Project Lilith
by Dragon'sHost
Summary: The Akatsuki has been quiet for the past 5 yrs. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata are to infiltrate the Akatsuki on orders from Tsunade. Story is actually about my OC Lilith, and the three kunoichi's adventure with the Akatsuki.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. If I did, all of the Akatsuki—except Konan-- would be mine. Forever.

This takes place after Chapter…398…I think…

Sorry for those of you who are waiting for me to update my Bleach fics. This popped into my head randomly one day. This is Lilith's story, and takes place before Kasumi's story, for those of you who have read my Bleach fics. It also takes place after Cean's, which I haven't even written yet. (Sweatdrop.) Enjoy.

Prologue

_Past, during Shippuden_

"Hey, Demon-chan? You don't have to hide in the shadows. Same to you two, Kasumi and Datenshi." Madara looked over to the darker side of the room where three figures were leaning against the wall. "How long have you three been here?"

They were silent. Then the one in the middle decided to speak. "We have been here since you began your explanation about Itachi. It is time to bring this one back to his teammates."

"Really, Kasumi? That time already?" The one named Kasumi nodded.

Sasuke was startled, even if he refused to show it. They had been there the entire time?

"So, Demon-chan? What did you think about Itachi's past?"

"Don't call me that."

Sasuke pinpointed the one on the far left as 'Demon-chan.' So, 'Demon-chan' and Kasumi were female, judging by their voices. Sasuke hadn't known that there _were_ any female members of Akatsuki. So far, he decided not to antagonize them. In his mind, even if they were female, they were still members of the most feared criminal organization in the world. That, and there were four of them, and only one of him.

"Come on, don't be so uptight, Demon-chan!" Madara paused. "How is Itachi?" Sasuke listened closely for confirmation of his hated brother's death. Even after all he had learned, Itachi had still killed his family, after all. No matter his reasons.

"He's fine. The resurrection was successful. The dumbass fought Chicken Ass Hair," she pointed at Sasuke—who took great offense at this comment—"when he still had injuries from his earlier battle." She then muttered, for good measure, some choice words about what she would do to him when he woke up. It wouldn't be pretty…

"What about Sasori's resurrection? And Kakuzu's? I assume you were able to save Deidara and Hidan before they died?"

Here, the mystery member spoke up. "Yes, Kasumi and I went and dug up Hidan's body from where it was buried on the Nara property. He was swearing up a storm, but we took that to be a good thing. Deidara, we managed to extricate from his battle before Itachi's little brother killed him." Sasuke couldn't see the woman's face, but he could hear the smirk in her voice. "I doubt he even realized he was fighting a clone for most of that battle."

Madara looked surprised. "Who made the clone, Datenshi?"

"Cean."

Sasuke could feel the anger and hatred emanating from Madara at this statement. "What was Cean doing in the area?"

"Cean came to visit me." Madara glanced at 'Demon-chan.' "Really, Demon-chan?"

"Yes, and if you keep calling me that I will start calling you 'Parasite-chan.' Are we clear on that?"

"Of course, Lilith. Don't talk back to me again though…"

"I understand."

"Now, back to—what did you call him again, Lilith?"

"Chicken Ass Hair."

"Ah, yes." Madara turned to face Sasuke properly. "Well, even though I wanted _you_ to hear all that, I don't think that Konoha should know, just yet." Madara's gloved hands glowed with a dark red aura before he performed lightning quick hand signs that Sasuke's sharingan couldn't follow. Then, just as quick, he lashed out and jabbed Sasuke's curse seal.

The younger Uchiha screamed in agony as a second marking formed around the curse seal. When the pain subsided, he felt it with his fingertips. The new seal had raised his skin up, so he could follow the design. It appeared to be made up of a strange combination of triangles, squares, and circles.

"The Weaver's Mark?" Lilith remarked, appreciatively. "Where did you learn _that_, Madara?"

"From your former village's archives, where else?"

"There were still some left? I thought I had destroyed everything, and everyone, there 15 years ago."

"You missed one underground storage area. You got the rest of them."

"Ah."

"What do you want with me?" Sasuke spoke up for the first time.

Lilith stepped into the light, yet was no more visible than before. Her cloak and rice-picker hat revealed nothing about her. Her fingernails were painted a vibrant, electric shade of lavender, though. She was shorter than the others—even so she was probably taller than Sakura, Sasuke mused.

"What we have planned for you is none of your business. Be content with what you have been told. That seal will prevent you from speaking about what we have discussed here. Now, goodnight." She hit the pressure point on the back of his neck, and he collapsed.

Kasumi and Datenshi stepped out of the shadows, as well. However, neither of the two wore their hats. Madara was struck by the two, as usual. They were identical twins, yet they still managed to seem so opposite of the other. Kasumi's face would have been pretty, if not for the long, vertical scars that ran the length of her face—from her hairline, through her eyes, to end at her chin. Datenshi had something completely different to mar her face—a completely intentional one. A tattoo of a snarling, black dragon stood out in stark contrast to her skin. Both had the same shade of blonde hair, though Kasumi wore hers in a low ponytail like Itachi and Datenshi wore hers down. Even there nail polish clashed against the other. A bright silver with flecks of blood red adorned Kasumi's nails. A stormy, bluish gray was Datenshi's preferred colour of choice. Twin pairs of silvery-blue eyes stared impassively back at him.

"Take him back to his teammates. Tell them that Itachi is still alive, but nothing else." He turned to leave, motioning for Lilith to follow. "Oh. And retrieve Kisame, while you're at it."

The twins nodded, and then vanished into thin air, along with Sasuke's unconscious form.

"Let's have the Akatsuki lay low for a few years…after all...nothing could be more fun than to lure the world into a false sense of security, right Lilith?"

"I'd have to disagree with you on that. I prefer pranks, myself." She paused a moment. "You should give Tobi his body back. Being in possession of it any longer may damage your host's body."

He nodded. "Yes, I wouldn't want that. But still, the fool annoys me."

"Tobi annoys everyone. Still, he's fun."

Wow! That wasn't as hard to write as I thought it would be! Okay, now the main story takes place five years in the future. Just so you know. Please review or I'll sick Tobi on you! On second thought, I'll keep him to myself, for now.

Review anyway, please! I now accept anonymous reviews, so you no longer have any excuses not to!

Flames will be fed to Cean, my precious dragon OC from A Hollow's Kingdom.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, because if I did I would make the story centered on the Akatsuki, and I would include more about their backgrounds. Because, really, aren't we all dying to know?

I have something of an idea about where I'm going with the pairings. More about that later…

Remember, this takes place when the Rookie 9 are 20 years old. Neji, Lee, and Tenten are 21 years old.

I'm eating ramen while I'm writing this…but I can't help it! I see why Naruto loves the stuff! (Slurp.)

Oh, yeah. I am going to put in random quotes occasionally, when it fits the situation.

_They say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself—Andy Warhol_

_Present: 5 yrs. After Shipuuden._

The Hokage glared at her paperwork in a futile attempt to set it ablaze. A quiet knock sounded on the door. "Come in!" Tsunade called, looking up.

Three very familiar kunoichi entered.

"You wanted to see us, shishou?" Sakura asked, gesturing towards her two companions.

"Ah, yes. Please shut the door. I have an extremely important mission for you three." They did as they were asked. "Good. Now listen closely, because what I'm about to tell you is completely confidential; not even Shizune knows."

Sakura, Ino, and Hinata shared a glance. Then they turned back to their leader and nodded.

"Within the past few years—actually, ever since Itachi died—the Akatsuki have been rather quiet. There have been absolutely no events that could be positively linked to them." Her audience nodded their understanding. "However—that is no longer the case. Recently, several ANBU from Konoha have returned from their missions abroad with no reports of suspicious activity, only to later remember, after it is already too late, that they had spotted the signature cloak of an Akatsuki member. This has been going on for the past couple of months.

"I have reason to believe that there is someone within their ranks that has the ability to alter memories temporarily."

When Tsunade paused, Sakura gravely handed over the Hokage's precious sake. Tsunade took a drink, and then continued.

"Also, the ANBU remembered something odd. There are no reported killings in the areas that the Akatsuki was spotted at."

"Excuse me, shishou, but what does this have to do with us?" Ino nodded, agreeing with her long time friend/rival. Hinata merely looked at the ground.

"I wish to assign you three2 missions." Tsunade held up one finger. "The first is an A-ranked mission, and your success will mean your promotion to ANBU." She held up a second finger. "The second I will assign you regardless of whether the first is a success or a failure. However, it will be easier to complete as an ANBU. Keep in mind that it is an S-ranked mission, and extremely dangerous." She paused. "You will infiltrate the Akatsuki, and remain there for 3 years. Then, by any means necessary, you will return. If you don't, then I will write you off as traitors. However, everyone else will consider you missing nin as soon as you step out of those gates for your mission, and will treat you accordingly. You will even have a whole couple of pages in the bingo book dedicated to each of you. Any questions?"

Surprisingly, it was timid Hinata who spoke up. "Um…Hokage-sama? If the Akatsuki have a member that can alter memories temporarily, then doesn't it stand to reason that the person can also read memories and find out about this mission?" Thankfully, she had lost her stutter over the years. As well as her crush on Naruto, amazingly enough.

"That's a good point. When someone asks about why you wish to join, tell them something that is true, and a good reason for leaving. For instance, Hinata, didn't your father recently disown you and make Hanabi the new heiress?"

"Yes…"

"Events like that. Remember those instead of this meeting. That would probably throw up enough smoke in order to deceive them."

"What makes you think that we'd be accepted, anyway?" Ino blurted out.

Ignoring the blonde kunoichi's rudeness, Tsunade gave them a straight answer that was rather worrisome. "If the Akatsuki are not killing, and are also lying low, that leaves only one possible thing for them to be doing." She paused again. "They are recruiting again. Just like they did two years ago. And if what the ANBU remember is true, they are not looking for any normal members. They are specifically recruiting medics."

_Meanwhile…_

"Come in," Pein called, not bothering to look up from his paperwork. He heard the door open and shut quietly as the person waited patiently for their Leader to finish. After a moment, he looked up and smiled. "Hello, Lilith."

"Hello, Pein-nii-sama," the young woman replied, also smiling. She wasn't wearing her hat, so her light purple hair was quite visible. "I'm going out to recruit again."

"Again?! That's the third time this month. I hardly get to see my little sister before you're off again…"

"Oh, don't throw me the wounded puppy look; you know it doesn't affect me in the slightest." She pointed to her blood red blindfold.

Pein sighed heavily. It had been worth a shot. "Well, we do need at least one medic, and soon, I feel. I'll let you go, but on 1 condition." Lilith opened her mouth to protest, only to be cut off. "No, Lilith. You're working yourself to death over this. I don't want to be held responsible for that. Besides, the Akatsuki work in pairs. With a couple of exceptions. So, who will you take?"

After mulling this over, Lilith reluctantly replied, "Tobi."

Pein frowned. "Why him?"

Lilith smirked and rearranged her blindfold. "Zetsu is on a mission. The world still thinks that Sasori, Deidara, Hidan, Kakuzu, and Itachi are dead. Kisame is useless for recruiting missions. _You_ have paperwork, and Konan wants to stay and help. I can't find Kasumi and Datenshi. Cean is over at the base in Grass. The other two are over in Lightning, babysitting the base there. Thus, that leaves only Tobi."

Pein stared at her. She had thought all that in less than a minute? "Fine. Where do you plan to go? Do you have any prospects?"

"I think I'll go to Konoha. "I've heard things about the medics there. Three, in particular."

"Really?"

"Yes. Three kunoichi that show great promise in many different areas."

"Then go ahead and brief Tobi, since you seem to know what you're looking for. When are you planning to depart?"

"In two days."

"Very well. Safe journey."

"Now _that_ I can promise."

Turning around, Lilith strode out without another word.

I apologize for the OOC-ness. The next chapter is hilarious, I promise.

Oh! I almost forgot! I saw someone with Sasuke hair yesterday! I couldn't stop laughing, and now whenever I see the guy I burst in fits of laughter. I think he's going to start to wonder what's so funny, eventually.

Review! It gets me into the writing mood!


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would have come straight out and told the readers that Tobi is Obito. I wouldn't have done the beating around the freaking bush that the author has done thus far.

Wow! Two chapters in such a short time! I am proud of myself.

Um…I like Tobito, so I put it in here…

_Stress is when you wake up screaming, and then realize that you haven't fallen asleep yet—Unknown_

"Hey, Lilith-chan? Tobi wants to take a break now."

The masked man's companion looked over at him. "Fine," she said, slowing down.

Lilith shook her head, her lilac coloured hair whipping around. "In any case, it's getting late. Let's set up camp here."

"Can Tobi go wash up? Tobi thinks Tobi heard a stream nearby."

Lilith didn't look up from whatever it was she was doing. "Since when do you need my permission to do anything? Just be careful, we're pretty near Konoha."

"Will do, Demon-chan!"

"I told you not to call me that!" she yelled at the empty space where Tobi had been.

'_Hmm… maybe Tobi will be nice to Demon-chan and catch some supper_,' Tobi thought to himself. Taking some rope from his pack, he set up a rope snare. '_There_,' he looked proud of himself.

When he reached the stream, he took off his mask, something he never dared to do in the company of others. He tucked it into the coat of the civilian clothes that he and Lilith had been forced to wear. Even though both of them had forgone getting rid of the blindfold and mask. There was only so much that Pein could force the two to do.

Tobi quickly splashed water on his face, making sure to get underneath of the eye patch over where his left eye should have been. It was annoying, and it got sweaty, but that mask made him feel more comfortable walking around.

He reached up and gently touched the numerous scars on the right side of his face. He wished he could remember how he got them, but whenever he tried his head hurt a lot. That, and Madara would always yell at him. For a moment, he sincerely wanted Lilith to magically be able to restore his memories, but she couldn't. She had tried, and had looked at him oddly afterward. He shook the whimsy out of his mind; it was no use to daydream pointlessly about something that would never happen. He strapped his mask back on.

Just in time. He heard a rustling in the bushes behind him and to his left. "You can come out," he called. There was a pause, before three kunoichi tumbled out of the undergrowth, a couple of them cursing at each other for giving them away.

The three hadn't been able to believe their luck, when they had stumbled upon an Akatsuki member that Sakura and Hinata had remembered from 5 years earlier; in fact, the same day that Itachi had died. They had just been promoted to ANBU a couple of days before, and had just left the village to become missing nin. The score marks across their Leaf headbands were still fresh.

Tobi cocked his head. For some reason they seemed very familiar… "Ah, ha! Tobi remembers you two!" He pointed at the girl with shockingly pink hair and the one with white eyes. "Pinky and White eyes!" He looked at the third, blonde girl. "Deidara-senpai! …When did you become a girl?" Tobi realized he had done something wrong when the girl's eye twitched. He couldn't imagine what, though…

Then he noticed the headbands. "Hey," he said pointing. "Are you three missing nin?"

_Meanwhile…_

"Where is that idiot? He said he was only going to go wash up." Lilith stared at the non-existent fire. "Damn, freakin' wet…" she muttered darkly to herself as she unenthusiastically poked the logs. That. Just. Wouldn't. Freaking. Burn…

Giving up, she decided to go hunt down Tobi. Knowing him, he had probably stopped to have a chat with an enemy…

She suddenly got a feeling that he had done just that.

She felt something tug on her right leg. "Huh?" was all she got out before she felt herself lifted bodily through the air. She hung from the tree by her leg in complete shock. Tobi had used the rope that couldn't be sensed by chakra, which was what she used to get around while blindfolded.

Then she noticed his pack nearby. She twitched enough to put Kasumi to shame. Animals wouldn't have gone within 100 yards of _that_ smelly pack.

"**TOOOOBIIIIIIII!!**"

The three 'missing' kunoichi looked at each other, and then back to Tobi. "Yes…" Hinata supplied for them.

"Really? Cool! Demon-chan and I are recruiting for Akatsuki! What are you good at?"

They were dumbfounded. Was this guy really this trusting? How in the world did he ever get into Akatsuki in the first place?

As it turns out, Lilith chose to scream at Tobi right that minute, so they weren't able to give their answer. Good thing, too. Tobi would have been suspicious if they had said yes that quickly.

"**I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU WHEN I GET DOWN FROM HERE!!**" Lilith yelled, severely pissed off.

Tobi whimpered and hid behind the girls, as if that would protect him. "Tobi is sorry, Demon-chan! Tobi promises never to do it again! Though Tobi is not quite sure what he did wrong, this time!"

There was a deadly silence. Then, "**TOBI, YOU LAID DOWN A ROPE SNARE USING THE SPECIAL ROPE, DIDN'T YOU?**"

Tobi paled behind his mask. "Did, Demon-chan, by any chance, get caught in it…?" he asked, fearfully.

"**YES!! AND THAT'S NOT MY NAME, DAMMIT!!**"

"Tobi didn't mean to! It was an accident! Honestly! TOBI'S A GOOD BOY!!"

He couldn't see it, but Lilith was shaking in anger.

Tobi looked at Sakura, Ino, and Hinata. "How far away do you think I can get if I start running right now?" he whispered, for once not speaking in 3rd person.

"**DON'T YOU DARE THINK OF RUNNING AWAY BEFORE YOU UNTIE ME!! BECAUSE IF I END UP GETTING UNDONE BY MYSELF, IT WILL NOT BE PRETTY FOR YOU!! AND YOU WILL BE A BAD BOY!!**"

Tobi gasped in horror. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata were not quite sure what to do about the situation. Nothing in Konoha had ever really prepared them for friendly criminals, who were 'good boys.'

Lilith sighed. "**JUST UNTIE ME, DAMMIT…**"

Tobi looked suspiciously in her direction.

"**YOU WILL BE A GOOD BOY! BUT ONLY IF YOU UNTIE ME!**"

Tobi snapped to attention. "Yes! TOBI IS A GOOD BOY!" He motioned for the three stunned kunoichi to follow him, and then he ran off. They chased after him, not wanting their chance to get into the Akatsuki to be wasted. They didn't think that this day couldn't get any stranger. Oh, how wrong they were.

This was about when Lilith came into view. Somehow, in her efforts to get free, she had managed to get herself hopelessly tangled in the rope. Nothing that she couldn't get out of…but still.

Lilith stared straight at the three girls, or at least as much as she could with a blindfold. "Tobi," she said, facing him, now. "Why did you bring Leaf ninja with you? You are entirely too trusting."

"They are missing nin, Demon-chan! See, see?!" He pointed at towards Hinata, as she was the closest to him.

"Huh, so they are." This was very confusing, as Lilith wasn't supposed to be able to see them. "Well, now!" she said, perking up. "If it isn't Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino, and Hyuuga Hinata! It is a pleasure to meet such accomplished medics such as yourselves." She gave a mock bow, once Tobi had untied her. "What brings you here?"

"Oh! Tobi found them, Demon-chan! And, and," he said excitedly, "I invited them to join Akatsuki since they have already betrayed their village!"

Lilith slapped him upside the head. "Dumbass…" she muttered, before looking back at the kunoichi. "I suppose proper introductions are in order." She sighed. "This idiot is, as you probably already know, Tobi. I am Lilith. We are the troublemakers of the Akatsuki. Even though _I_ know who you are," she looked pointedly at Tobi, "_he_ probably doesn't."

"I'm Haruno Sakura, but please, call me Sakura-chan," Tsunade's apprentice said smiling.

"Yamanaka Ino. Just call me Ino, please. No –chan."

"Hyuuga Hinata. Um…call me whatever works for you…" she murmured quietly, looking down at her feet and twiddling her fingers.

Lilith smiled. "So, Tobi." She turned to him. "Thank you for bringing them here, as it saves me the trouble of kidnapping them." She faced the three shocked kunoichi. "I was actually here to recruit medics for the Akatsuki, and I heard that you three were very good…do you have any desire to join?"

"And if we say no?" Ino asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lilith just smiled in response.

"What's in it for us?" Sakura looked suspiciously at them, trying to play her part correctly. This wasn't so hard to do actually, since it depended on the three acting just like they always do.

"I suppose that would have to depend on you."

They all looked at Hinata, waiting for her to say something. "What makes you think that we would be good additions to the Akatsuki?" she finally replied, returning her gaze to the ground.

Lilith stared at them, or at least, that's what they thought she was doing. "Don't you three sell yourselves short. I've had my eyes on you for _five_ years as potential Akatsuki material. All three of you 

are amazing medics. Sakura has superhuman strength. Ino has her mind control. And Hinata has a powerful bloodline limit. Now, before you give us your answer, let me tell you one more thing. I can only get you a meeting with Leader. He is the one who decides whether or not you can join."

The three kunoichi looked at each other. Sure, the mission required them to say yes, but it was still the Akatsuki. They all nodded, knowing what they had to do.

"We accept your offer," they all said at the same time.

Having…line…issues…stupid computer! Oh, well. In order for me to update now, I'm going to need help from you guys. Thank you!

One more note before I dare you to try not reviewing. I may have some idea of where I'm going with the pairings, but I would like to see what you think, since you are my precious readers. (Yes, this is a ploy to get more reviews, I like hearing from you guys. It makes me think that my story is being read.)

See the pretty button…you know you want to press it and review…

Review, or I'll force feed you the super spicy curry of life!


	4. Chapter 3

**I'm going to put all of the Author's notes in bold, so that it is easier to distinguish from the actual story. Quotes will be in bold and italics.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Because, if I did, Lee and Gai would not wear that creepy spandex. Or, barring that, it wouldn't be green.**

**Whew! Another chapter! I'm just pumping these out, aren't I?**

**Lookie! You get to see a little bit of Lilith's past! Yippee!**

**Wait, not yippee! I have SAT's tomorrow! AHHHHHHH!!**

_**It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head—Sally Kempton**_

"Great to hear that. Unfortunately, if you had said no, we would have had to either kidnap or kill you, so this is good!" Lilith smiled at the three kunoichi. They had suspected something like that…

"Oh, um…Lilith-san?"

"Hinata-chan, -san makes me twitch."

"Oh, then…um…Lilith…-chan…?"

"Yes? What is it Hinata-chan?"

"Um…um…how do you get around, with that blindfold on?"

Lilith blinked. "Oh, have you guys ever heard of chakra fields?"

They all nodded. "When someone puts one up, they can sense any use of outside chakra within that field," Sakura supplied.

"Well, I do something similar. I don't actually use a jutsu to put up one, I just send my chakra out in all directions, so I can tell where things are. I even know what you three look like." Lilith sighed heavily. "However, it requires a lot of chakra to use, so I've restricted it to within 5 ft. of me right now. That's why I didn't know you guys were here until Tobi brought you close enough for me to hear you, and thus extend the field."

"How come we didn't notice?" Ino asked, genuinely curious.

"You aren't supposed to consciously realize that there is one. Here, let me remove it." She did just that, and the three felt a slight weight lift from their shoulders that they hadn't even noticed was there. After a minute, Lilith put it back. "I've replaced it again. Did you feel it?"

"No…" they all replied simultaneously.

'_Hmm,_' Lilith thought to herself. '_I wonder if they noticed that I've already picked their minds clean. Really, that infiltration mission Tsunade gave them is all they're thinking about.'_

"Hey, how long till Konoha notices you're missing?" Lilith asked. '_Oh, well, I'll let them join anyway. It'll be a fun prank. Besides, I don't really think that they'll be all that much trouble. Tsunade missed some important information…'_

The three oblivious kunoichi looked at each other. "Byakugan!" Hinata said, activating her bloodline limit. "…We…might…be in trouble…Neji-nii-san is headed this way. He is 140 meters west of us." She had improved her Byakugan's range over the past five years, it seems.

"Okay! Pack up the camp and let's get going!" Lilith ordered, heading over towards the makeshift tent that she had erected earlier. It was down and stowed away in less than two minutes. "What?" she asked when everyone, including Tobi, stared at her. "So it wasn't put up very well. Does it really matter? We have to go."

There wasn't much else to pack up, since Lilith and Tobi hadn't brought much with them in the first place. Hinata checked again, Neji and the rest of Team Gai had gotten closer. It didn't seem that they were in much of a hurry, though. Tsunade must have told them to make sure not to miss anything, and to be careful after she had realized that the three weren't going to show up for their scheduled meeting and had started the mission on their own.

"I know a place where we can lose them easily," Lilith remarked, beginning to walk due north, aiming for a place between the countries of Sound and Waterfall.

"Shouldn't we run?" Sakura asked.

"In a minute…Ok, now run! We have quite a ways, to go, so save your chakra!" Lilith suddenly bolted through the trees, leaving everyone else to catch up to her.

After about an hour of running, Hinata realized that they had somehow managed to outpace Neji and his team some. The girls were stronger than they had thought.

However, they couldn't shake them completely, because about three hours later they were still running.

"How much longer, Lilith-chan?" Ino called to the other girl.

"Can you guys just hold out a little longer? We'll be there in a couple more hours at this pace!" Actually the journey should have taken at least a day, but the pace that Lilith set was grueling.

"Are we going where Tobi thinks we're going, Demon-chan?" the masked man inquired, beginning to get a cold sweat. He didn't like that place…it creeped him out.

"Yup! To my former village!" she shouted over her shoulder.

Tobi groaned.

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad!"

"Says you."

"Um…Tobi…-kun? Is it really that bad?"

"NO!" Lilith yelled.

"Yes," Tobi answered Hinata. "It's really creepy."

Lilith rolled her eyes. "Less talky—more fleeing!"

"Why _are _we fleeing?" Sakura asked.

"Because running them around in a happy circle is more fun."

There was no more conversation.

"Here we are." Everyone had been running for over six hours straight, and it was very dark out, now.

The ones who had never been there before peered into the darkness ahead of them that was lit only by a waning crescent moon.

"Is that a…mountain?"

"A dormant volcano, actually."

Sakura and Ino stared at her, and at the large volcano that loomed ahead of them. "Okay, so where is your village?"

"In the 'blackest plain in Hell's domain.'" Lilith's answer was not very helpful. "Inside the crater," she supplied.

"Inside of a former volcano?!" Sakura yelled.

"Um…not former. Just currently quiet," Lilith replied, holding her hands up in front of her.

"Speaking of which, Lilith-chan…where's your headband?" Hinata asked, not hesitating as much as before. She was beginning to feel comfortable around the troublemaking duo that was Lilith and Tobi.

"I don't have one. I was too young. Come on, I'll tell you later. But for now, we have some pursuers to lose." She walked around a boulder. "There's a cave system made of old lava tubes. It will be simple for me to navigate us through, but your cousin's Byakugan will be useless with all of the offshoots, twists, turns, and other hazards."

"A lava tube? Is that safe?" Ino asked, looking at the ebony opening in the side of the mountain with trepidation.

"Mostly."

"Mostly…?"

Lilith chose not to answer this and entered, gesturing for them to follow.

Not having any other choice, they did so.

**Well, that's all for now. More about Lilith next chapter! Oh, and actually, I forgot to mention that Lilith just thinks of the Akatsuki as her family and that's why she calls Pein her older brother. The feeling is mutual. Sorry that I wasn't clear about that.**

**Cean's glaring at me, and wants me to write her story. So I should get started on that…sometime…yeah.**

**I am going to stare at you until you review!**

**You are feeling awkward…you are feeling even more awkward…until you finally give in and press the review button…**


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto but I do own…wait…nothing, actually. I am a student, and thus am broke. Ah, man…**

**Hello everyone! I'm back! The SAT's didn't kill me! (Whispering) Actually, they were easier than I thought they would be…but shhhhh!**

**Since I can't directly answer the anonymous reviewers, I'll use this spot to answer their questions and comments. For those of you that give me signed reviews, I'll take the time to formally reply to you as soon as I get your reviews.**

**Ahem…**

**MOHSEEN: I will get to the action! I promise!**

**spswnaruto: Don't worry, I will explain everything, it just takes me time…unfortunately…**

**GrimmMah-chan: YES, YOU MAY HAVE CURRY!! I GIVE! Thank you for your kind comments.**

**Lilith is a lot easier to write than my other characters, maybe because she isn't as serious.**

**There were other things I wanted to write in this space, but I don't remember what they were…**

**Now! I shall update, and get back to my college search!**

**Oh, and I gave up on the lines…**

**(LOOK AT MY AWESOME INVISIBLE LINE!)**

_**During times of war, hatred becomes quite respectable, even though it has to masquerade often under the guise of patriotism—Howard Thurman**_

**(LOOK AT MY AWESOME INVISIBLE LINE!)**

"Close your eyes so you don't strain them, and also don't be afraid to feel along the walls; there isn't anything nasty on them, I promise," Lilith told them quietly, her voice echoing oddly in the small space. "There aren't any turns for a few more yards. There will be torches at the first intersection."

The Leaf kunoichi, and Tobi, all put one hand on either side of the cramped space. The cooled magma was rough, not smooth at all. They had to lightly brush their hands on it, or else risk leaving some flesh behind. Lilith chuckled at Tobi's soft cursing when he hit his hand on a piece that stuck out a little bit.

For some reason, no one wanted to talk in the pitch black lava tube. It wasn't wet at all inside, like Sakura, Ino, and Hinata had thought it would be. Just the opposite, in fact. It was a little chilly, but it 

was as dry as bleached bone left out in Suna's sun for a couple of days. The rock had that strange, dusty texture that most magma had, and gave off a feeling of age, somehow.

Now, the feelings that one usually gets from a cave can vary widely. Typically, the Leaf kunoichi—used to the forest surrounding their village—did not feel comfortable in a dark, rocky, enclosed place. However, this was a strange place. They couldn't for the life of them see why Tobi was so uncomfortable in there. They felt so peaceful; it was like the very volcano was embracing them, protecting them from everything bad and wrong in their lives.

Suddenly, they realized that it was getting steadily warmer in the cavern. Lilith had said that it wasn't completely safe…was this what she meant?

"Okay, stop." Even though it had been only a couple of minutes at most, it had felt a lot longer. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata could see a soft, red glow behind their eyelids. "You can open your eyes now."

They did so, squinting at the sudden light. Lilith smiled, at pointed towards the source: through a hole in the wall, there was a distant glow of a magma pool. "I told you that there were quite a few hazards in here."

She grabbed a torch, and lit it with a fire jutsu. When everyone else stared, she explained, "I used up the last of the matches trying to light the stupid camp fire."

Now, thanks to the torch, the slightly wider space they were in was better illuminated. The rock all around them was a soft charcoal gray in colour. With the light, the place lost some of the comforting atmosphere that was present earlier. The intersection was simple, just a fork. One wider tunnel, one narrower.

Lilith pointed towards the narrow, left hand one. "Both ways have branches that eventually reach the crater, but this one is less likely to be taken by our pursuers."

"Why is that?" Sakura asked.

"Most right handed people automatically turn right on instinct. That path is actually longer, by the way. This one may be more difficult, but it is actually safer and shorter. Or at least, if you follow it correctly and don't go down the wrong way…"

They nodded, and headed down the left tunnel. After a couple of minutes, Lilith turned around to look at everyone, since the tunnel was only wide enough for single file. "I know you guys are dying to ask questions. No need to squelch your curiosity. The Leaf nin haven't even reached the opening, yet. I extended my field to the whole cave system, and they aren't in it."

Ino was the first one to voice a question, "Why is your former village inside of a volcano?"

"Well," here Lilith dodged a random projectile that shot out from a wall. "Damn! Stupid, outdated, ancient, thrice-damned defense system! You're not supposed to work anymore!" she yelled to the empty cavern.

She turned to the others, who were looking at her strangely. "Sorry about that. Well, obviously, a volcano is a fairly easy place to defend if the village ever came under attack. There are only four ways to enter, and one of them requires flying. Plus, there is always a source of nice, hot water."

"But, it's so secluded," Sakura commented, dodging the projectile, which she _thought_ was a rock, when she came to the wall trap.

"The village only had one clan to begin with; everyone was a part of it. Around two or three hundred years ago, they were very active in the world outside this volcano. However, they soon cut off all contact and relations. I think that most others eventually forgot that this place even existed to begin with."

Lilith suddenly hugged the wall and inched slowly past the trapdoor that opened up in the floor. They others followed suit, trusting her.

"Why didn't we just jump over it?" Ino asked, once they were past the hole and walked semi-normally again.

"That would have triggered a good sized rock to land on our heads."

"Oh."

"Um…"

"What is it, Hinata-chan?" Lilith asked, as she calmly 'hit the deck' and rolled away from the spikes that decided to descend from the ceiling, only to retract after Lilith was clear.

"Um…" Hinata dodged as well. "You keep referring to your village in the past tense…why?"

"Well—oh, here's the next intersection!" Indeed, they had reached a fork. "Now, this is ingenious!" Lilith remarked appreciatively, putting the torch on a wall sconce.

"How…so?"

"Watch! Tobi-nii-san, give me a lift, would you?" The girls stared at the lavender haired Akatsuki member. "What?"

"Is Tobi really your brother?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, no he isn't. Sorry, I slipped up. The Akatsuki basically raised me, so I think of them as my family and call them as such. Thus, Tobi is my older brother, and so are most of the other males in the Akatsuki! I do give our Leader a more respectful title, but even he is subject to it. Now, Tobi? The lift."

He did as she asked, and she crawled into a space above their heads that they hadn't seen. Tobi gave the other three a lift as well, then passed up the torch and clamored up himself.

"Lucky…" Lilith mumbled, not liking the fact that she was too short to get up into this space without resorting to wall climbing (which would have been painful considering the nature of the walls).

The space that they entered was actually rather spacious. Tobi, the tallest person there, didn't have to stoop.

"This way, this way! The pursuers have entered the maze!" Lilith sang happily, proceeding down the tunnel.

**(LOOK AT MY AWESOME INVISIBLE LINE!)**

**Well, here we are, the next chapter. Hope I explained some things. Not much action, but that comes in a little later.**

**Review! Or I'll…sick my sister's bipolar cat on you! HA!!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Special Thanks to rukia23! Because you leave me awesome reviews for all of my stories, not just this one!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, because even though I do take Japanese classes at the college, I am not proficient enough to bargain with Kishimoto for the rights to Naruto.**

**Hi, everybody! I remember what it was that I was going to put in the last chapter's Author's Note! So, here it is!**

**If anybody recognizes characters from my other fics, yes, they are the same people. But, there is a really good reason for that, I promise! I'll get to it! …Eventually, but I WILL get to it!**

**Also, the reason why this gets updated so much faster than my other stories is because I've had Lilith's story in mind for a very long time, and already have a sequel planned out!**

**Well, I'm done babbling! On with the story!**

**(LOOK AT MY AWESOME INVISIBLE LINE, UN!!)**

_**Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go into the same box—Italian Proverb**_

**(LOOK AT MY AWESOME INVISIBLE LINE, YEAH!!)**

"Lilith? You didn't answer Hinata's question," Sakura informed the Akatsuki member politely.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I refer to the village in the past tense for the same reason that we are going there for shelter. It no longer exists."

The others, excluding Tobi (because he had been there before), were surprised, to say the least.

"Have you noticed the small alcoves along the way? Guards used to be stationed there, in order to keep intruders out. They've stood empty for a very long time." True to what Lilith said, they spotted one such just a moment later.

"Did this happen when you betrayed your village?" Ino asked.

Lilith's aura darkened considerably. "I never betrayed my village, Ino. They were the ones who betrayed not only me, but my mother, my brother, my sister-in-law, and two of my best friends. They got what they had coming to them."

Seeing the detached look on Lilith's face (discernable even with the blindfold), the three chose not to pursue that line of questioning anymore. Instead, their eyes were assaulted with brilliant gleams from all around them.

Lilith smiled, slightly. "When the village was still active in the outside world, they were renowned as the largest exporters of diamonds, which they mined right here in their own home." She chuckled as the others let out awed gasps at the sheer amount of the stones. "These ones were left merely for decorative purposes, and were shined. Uncut diamonds don't actually sparkle that much. This place is a very well kept secret, not even most of the Akatsuki know that this is here. Kakuzu would have stolen all of the diamonds long ago, otherwise."

Sakura, Ino, and Hinata all remembered the stories told to them about the greedy Akatsuki member, and his subsequent demise. Naruto had been very loud in proclaiming that he had nearly killed a member of the most feared criminal organization in the world, and that Kakashi was only able to finish him off because _he_ did most of the work, first.

More to herself than anyone else, Lilith whispered, "Even in a place so corrupt, something beautiful remained. Ironic—and sad, too." The others heard her, anyway.

The girl suddenly grinned evilly. "Now, while we may know some things about Konoha and you guys, the gossip channel is still lacking. I want to know all about _you_ guys."

Tobi restrained a groan. Lilith was feeling mischievous. He knew from experience that this was a bad thing, since she usually managed to convince him to go along with her shenanigans. Then Deidara chased him with exploding clay birdies. Not fun…not fun at all…

Noticing Tobi's being uncomfortable in the passage, Hinata decided to ask him about it. "Um…Tobi-kun? Why…do you…not like it here?"

Tobi seemed surprised. "Tobi doesn't know why, but Tobi doesn't like enclosed spaces, is all. Especially with big rocks all around."

"Why don't you know?" she asked, Sakura and Ino were—meanwhile—answering Lilith's questions with gusto (since they seemed innocent enough).

"Tobi doesn't remember anything from before Zetsu-senpai found Tobi. Tobi doesn't even know what village Tobi came from."

It was right about then that they tuned Lilith back in, just in time to hear her ask about what it was like to work in a hospital, and didn't it make them depressed at all?

"Working in a hospital isn't that bad, Lilith-chan…once you get over seeing all of the blood and gore," Ino amended as an afterthought.

"The only time I've ever gotten depressed is when I lose a patient," Sakura commented, thinking back. She turned around to peer into the semi-darkness at Hinata. "What about you, Hinata-chan?"

"Um…the same. I…don't like…losing patients." Sure the stutter was gone, but she still hesitated when speaking to anyone. Then again, that was better than being incomprehensible.

"Turn left," Lilith told them. Looking around, nobody could see what she was talking about.

"What?"

Lilith pointed. There, tucked behind a large outcropping, was a small alcove, much like the ones they had previously passed. "Squeeze through there; it's another way to the top. Up ahead there is a cave in, so we can't go that way. This intersects again with the tunnel beyond the obstacle."

It was close, but everyone managed to get through.

"TOBI'S A GOOD BOY!!" said man shouted, pleased that he had managed (just barely) to squeeze past.

Lilith covered her ears and winced. "Ouch…"

Hinata, who had been the closest to Tobi, had stars floating around her aching head.

**(LOOK AT MY AWESOME INVISIBLE LINE, HMM!!)**

_Meanwhile…_

Neji and the rest of Team Gai blinked.

"Did I hear something?" Tenten asked, confused.

"I think someone was yelling that they were a 'good boy,'" Neji observed dryly.

"THAT PERSON HAS MUCH YOUTH!!" Gai declared happily.

Lee gasped. "YOU ARE RIGHT, GAI-SENSEI!! THEY ARE OVERFLOWING WITH YOUTHFULLNESS!!"

Neji and Tenten stared as they did their typical sunset-crashing waves routine.

The Hyuuga turned to look at the weapons-mistress. "My Byakugan is useless here. We should retreat for now."

"Good idea, but you're forgetting something important. Which way did we come?" The two stared blankly at each other while an oblivious Lee and Gai were still doing their thing.

"We're screwed…" they muttered at the same time.

**(LOOK AT MY AWESOME INVISBLE LINE, UN YEAH HMM!!)**

_Back with Lilith…_

"I think that Tobi would get along well with Gai and Lee," Sakura remarked just as dryly as Neji had earlier.

"Ah...oh well. Not too much farther…" Lilith said, starting off again.

**(LOOK AT—TOBI'S A GOOD BOY!! TOBI! GET BACK HERE!)**

Well, I have some unfortunate news. I have to get a part-time job during the summer, so I won't be able to update so quickly. So sorry! It wasn't my choice! My parents made me!

Please review! I'm running out of threats!


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Um…what was going to say again? I forgot… (Whacked upside the head) Ouch! Okay, okay! I get it! Stop hitting me! I don't own Naruto! Owie! Waaahhh! I don't own the characters either! NOW will you stop hitting me?! OUCH! Apparently not…**

**Wow, this was rather fast. Chapter 6 already!**

**More reviews, people! ONE review for a quickly updated chapter?! And a good chapter too?! WHY ARE YOU NOT REVIEWING?! (Whacks non-reviewers upside the head.) Review! You have no excuses!**

**If you look closely, you can see that commas hold a special place in my heart.**

**I think I finally figured out the lines…**

**-**

**(NOPE, GUESS NOT.)**

**-**

_**How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it—Marcus Aurelius**_

**_-_**

**(LINE, DAMMIT)**

**-**

"Umm…Lilith-chan? How are…Neji-nii-san…and…his team…going to get out of here?" Hinata asked, very quietly with a hint of nervousness.

Since Lilith always wore her blindfold, she had learned long ago how to tell what a person is feeling in the subtle nuances in their voice. Hinata was really worried.

She smiled kindly, even though the former heiress couldn't see it as Lilith's back was to her. "You don't have to fret. I'll condense a part of the chakra field to create a light to guide them out, back where they entered. Really, they shouldn't have come in. Didn't they realize that the Byakugan would be useless?"

"I don't think that Neji-nii-san has ever really had to pursue someone into an unknown cave system, before," Hinata explained. Everyone stared at her. "What?"

"You didn't hesitate at all," Lilith remarked. "Congratulations," she finished, rather amused.

This praise was a little too much for Hinata, who relapsed into an incomprehensible dialect involving much stuttering.

"Tobi thinks Demon-chan overloaded Hina-chan's brain," Tobi observed calmly. This new nickname for the bluenette only sent her even more over the edge. She turned extremely red, and became even worse than she was before. "Hina-chan?" Tobi asked. "Are you okay? Do you have a fever? You're awfully red…" She opened her mouth but no sound came out, and she waved her arms frantically.

Lilith laughed. "Correction, Tobi. I think that _you_were the one who fried her brain." Sakura and Ino could practically feel the question marks forming around Tobi's head.

"Now, don't fry your brain too, Tobi!" Lilith laughed, nearly going into hysterics. "Not that there's much there to destroy…"

Tobi was only becoming steadily more confused. Sakura patted him on the back. "Don't worry about it too much."

"Okay! Is Tobi a good boy?"

Having a feeling that she was going to regret this later, Ino spoke up. "Yes, Tobi is a good boy. A very good boy."

"YAY!"

By this point, Hinata had recovered somewhat. She was still redder than a tomato, though.

Lilith, on the other hand, was still trying to reign herself in. Wiping an imaginary tear away from her blindfold, she managed to put on an act of semi-normalcy. "Come on, guys. Not too much farther…"

At least an hour later, they were still traipsing around in the lava tubes. The girls resolved to never believe Lilith again, when it came to distances.

However, the Akatsuki woman was appropriately apologetic. "I swear, we really are close! In fact, there were places where there was only 20 feet of rock between us and the crater!" This statement didn't help very much. "We _are _close, though! Two more forks! I promise!"

Two forks, yes. No mention of the three and four-way intersections before, in between, and after. Suddenly, Lilith called out, "Okay, one more turn and we'll be out of here."

"We'd better be," Sakura grumbled. "I have to pee."

"Me too. And I'm really tired as well; we've been up all day and most of the night," Ino added.

Hinata didn't have to say anything; she was too busy stifling a yawn.

"Um, actually you mean 'all night,'" Lilith corrected sheepishly. "You'll get to see an extremely rare sight: my former village at daybreak."

"How is that rare?"

"Well, every time I've brought someone here is either at night or during the day. The village, even before it was destroyed, was at its most beautiful during the times of day when daylight and night's shadow cross. Dusk and dawn."

"Um…Lilith-chan? What…was your village…called?" Hinata asked.

As they rounded that last corner, Lilith smiled. "This was the original hidden village. It was called: Yoakegakure. The Village Hidden in the Dawn. Where do you think the other villages got the idea from? Legends about this place, of course."

"Does that mean that it had a Kage, as well?" Sakura inquired, as everyone stopped walking.

"Yes, though I suppose that it would have to be my sister-in-law, my mother, or myself. The leader was called the Yuugurekage. The Twilight Shadow." She paused. "Or maybe it was The Shadow of Twilight…I don't remember…"

"Oh, that's right! I almost forgot!" Sakura declared, clapping once. "How did your village betray you?"

This question actually made Lilith visibly flinch. However, she answered anyway. "They killed my brother."

Sakura's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know!"

"Well, that's exactly it. You didn't know. There's nothing to forgive." Lilith smiled sadly. "Anyway, for everyone else in the world, the sun rose long ago. But here, it rises much later. Would you like to see?"

They nodded, with the exception of Tobi. He really didn't like what remained of Yoakegakure, and he doubted he ever would.

Striding out of the tunnel, at first the kunoichi saw nothing at all. Then the first rays peeked over the rim of the crater that was over a hundred feet above their heads. A scud of clouds reflected the sun's light, changing it into magnificent golds, reds, pinks, purples, and oranges.

The glow washed the inside of the crater with this multitude of colour, to finally reach the bottom, also over a hundred feet away from where they were standing. Instead of painting it like the walls of the volcano, it was reflected back.

"Is that…a lake?" Hinata gasped in wonder. The others were just too awestruck to ask, even Tobi. He had never seen it like this before, but the knowledge of what was truly down there kept him sober.

"I guess you could say that," Lilith remarked, starting down some stairs that were built right into the crater wall. On the way, the panorama changed significantly. Whatever it was that had reflected the colours was now _eating _the light, so to speak.

"What…is _that_?" Ino asked.

"Glass. Black glass." There was a whole plain of it.

"Um…Lilith-chan? I don't see the village," Sakura commented. Now that they were level with it, they could see that it was indeed glass, though not quite black. More like a very dark purple.

Lilith walked out onto the smooth field, the others following. She stopped right in the middle. "I said that my village was 'in the blackest plain in Hell's domain.' Hell's domain refers to the volcano itself. The black plain is this glass."

"So, where's the village?" Ino pressed.

"I never said 'on the blackest plain.' I said 'in.' Look down."

They very nearly threw up. Far beneath their feet, they could see what remained of the village—and the people.

Even with their being extremely skilled medics, the kunoichi couldn't tell whether the people had died of suffocating on molten glass, or burned to death because of it. They didn't want to know.

Lilith's voice drifted to them, as if they were trapped in some sort of horrific dream state.

"I was angry. _So very, very angry…_"

-

**(ANOTHER LINE, DAMMIT!)**

**-**

**Well, that's it for this chapter. I used glass because, for some reason, a death like that terrifies me to no end. I don't know why. But, when people in my country (America) say that they will bomb Iraq until the fields turn to glass, it terrifies me. Not just scares, I get paralyzed with fear. If that ever came to pass, it would be a worse atrocity than when Carthage's fields were sown with salt so that nothing would ever grow there again.**

**If anyone could tell me how to do the lines, I would be very appreciative.**

**Please review. I don't feel like threatening you guys right now, so please respect that and review for this poor author.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Happy now, you bloodsucking parasite with a briefcase?! (Lawyer nods.) Good.**

**I really think I have the lines figured out now!**

**-**

**(Nope, Still Nothin'.)**

_**Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavour, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned—Charlotte Bronte**_

**_-_**

Hyuuga Neji—_THE HYUUGA NEJI—_was at a complete loss as to where they were, though not yet quite ready to admit it.

Tenten, on the other hand, had no problems pointing this fact out whenever she got the chance to tease him while Lee and Gai went off on "youthful" tangents. Actually, those two were probably the reason why they were so lost.

Lee suddenly pointed to something in the middle of his youthful rant. "What is that, Gai-sensei?" Curious, Neji and Tenten also peered at the object.

It was a ball of raw chakra, a brilliant blue in colour. Hovering at about eye-level, it was about the size of a softball.

"It's chakra," Neji explained, cutting off Gai's speech just as he opened his mouth.

Lee stared appreciatively at it. "It is a youthful ball of light sent to us to be our youthful guide!"

Gai had tears in his eyes. "YES, MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT! Let us follow the light of youth! Come, my youthful friends!" Without further ado, Lee and Gai took off down the tunnel, chasing the ball of chakra.

Neji and Tenten both heaved a sigh. Then they followed their wayward teammates, not wanting to lose them in the warren of rock.

Turns out, they didn't have to go very far. Somehow, in their wanderings, they had managed to circle back so that they weren't very far from the entrance.

The two brunettes stared in shock as Lee and Gai did a happy dance around the chakra ball. For once, the green-spandex-clad pair had managed to get them _out _of trouble, instead in _more_ like they normally did.

Another shock was that it was daylight out, and it appeared that it had been for some time. Judging by the sun's position, it was about ten o' clock in the morning. In the tunnels, it was hard to tell time, but even so it had not felt like _that _much time had passed.

Right about then, Lee and Gai started crying when the chakra sphere dissipated, saying that they would miss their youthful guide.

Shaking his head, Neji turned around to look at the entrance into the mountain once again. His eyes widened considerably. "Hey, everybody, take a look at the cave."

Hearing his serious tone, even Gai and Lee stopped what they were doing to do as their team leader asked.

"The entrance…" Tenten said in bewilderment.

"Is gone," Neji finished, looking very pale.

Indeed, it was. The mountain had swallowed it up, as if it had never existed in the first place.

Tenten made a hand sign. "Kai!" she said, hoping it was a genjutsu. Nothing happened. They had been well and truly kicked out.

"We need to report this to the Hokage." With that, they turned and ran back to Konoha.

Too bad; if they had turned around, or looked over their shoulder, they would have noticed that the mountain had disappeared entirely.

-

Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and Tobi had walked off of the field of glass, leaving Lilith standing there in the middle.

They let her have some time to herself, for when the girls had looked up at her face after that comment about anger, they saw something almost heartbreaking.

Tears had soaked through the blindfold to trail down her face. Regret and shame shone clearly in her body language.

So, they had left her alone with her thoughts. Tobi had shown the kunoichi a house built right into the wall, and that was where they sat in uneasy silence. A few minutes later, Lilith appeared at the entry way.

She stood there for a moment, then entered and sat down as well.

"Um…Lilith-chan? Why…did you…show us this?" Hinata asked, confused.

"To remind you of what you three are getting into. What you saw out there was an accident, caused by overflowing power. I doubt that I could recreate what happened here." She paused. "However, practically every member of the Akatsuki has done something like this. Taken many lives. I wish for you to enter this organization with no illusions like the ones that Konoha fosters. It is one thing to hear 

about these kinds of things, it is another to actually see them. And then, it is an entirely different to have to actually commit these kinds of acts, knowingly."

"Lilith," Sakura began, hesitating a little. "We are ninja. We have had to kill before, this is nothing new. Being medics, though, it is harder for us to see death objectively. That is all."

Lilith gave them a sad smile. "That was a good speech, but let me give you some pointers. Try not to sound as if you are trying to convince yourself, as well." Sakura hung her head. "Don't worry about it too much," Lilith continued. "You _are _medics, and as such are important to the Akatsuki. If the Leader lets you join, then I doubt that you will go on too many missions."

"Why are you telling us this, if we aren't officially members yet?" Ino asked, giving Lilith a hard stare, suspecting a trick.

Lilith raised an eyebrow at this. "No trick, I promise." Ino's eyes widened. "I'm telling you this because…I want to. I want you to trust me, and know exactly what is going on. Contrary to what your Hokage might have told you, we in the Akatsuki _do _adhere to our own set of honour codes. Mine does not allow me to present you to the Leader and have you join, only to be blindsided later with this information."

The young woman smiled genuinely. "Now, I suggest you get some sleep before we go to see Leader." She opened up her pack, pulling out (remarkably enough) the correct amount of sleeping bags. "Any more questions before we go to sleep?"

"I have one," Sakura said.

"Me…too," Hinata added.

"Okay, shoot."

"I'll go first," Sakura volunteered. Lilith nodded. "What are you going to do about that blindfold?" It was still soaked. Grinning evilly, Lilith reached into her pack to pull out a deep blue spare. Quickly switching them, the girls were unable to catch a glimpse of her eyes. They sweat dropped at the secrecy.

"And you, Hinata-chan?" Lilith turned to look at the bluenette.

"Um…if I may ask…why is the sky…purple?"

Ino and Sakura rushed to the window carved out of the rock to see if she was right, while Lilith broke down into uncontrollable fits of laughter.

From nearby, they could all hear Tobi snoring peacefully away, oblivious to everything that was going on.

-

**I hope this chapter was fine.**

**Review! Or I'll…um…I forgot…shit…**

**Just review!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters! Now get that mob of lawyers off of my lawn, or my parents will kill me!**

**Have you guys ever seen golden mist? I have, once during the beginning of autumn. It was heart-stoppingly beautiful.**

**Okay, credit to the anonymous reviewers!**

**Freyja: I love your name! Don't worry; I think I'll put in a moment in the next chapter! I promise!**

**TahDAH you don't know it's…: I know exactly who you are, though it took me a minute. Yes, run…run far, far away…**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! That was the most reviews I've gotten for a chapter of Project Lilith! Thank you again!**

**I really did give up on the lines this time, so now I will settle for these single hyphens…**

_**-**_

_**Sanity is a small price to pay for happiness—Marabeth Madsen**_

-

Sakura and Ino stared at Lilith, who looked like she was about to die from lack of air.

"What's so funny?!" Sakura demanded, very confused.

Lilith let out one last chuckle, before sitting upright again. "Nothing, really. I just thought it was hilarious that it took you this long to notice that the sky is the wrong colour." She was grinning broadly now.

Ino and Sakura twitched in unison, which made Lilith laugh harder, and Hinata giggle. Tobi was still oblivious, snoring happily away. Oh, and he was muttering something about blue ponies and rainbow flowers, but we'll not go into that…

"This is The Village Hidden in the Dawn. Literally. This place moves into a space separated from the rest of the world at dawn, and then reappears at dusk. I don't know why, or how, but it has helped to keep this place secret for so long. For some reason, the sky is purple. All exits get cut off too, so even if we could fly or go through the other tunnels, we would be blocked by a rather strong barrier. Your only option is to rest and recuperate." Lilith was still extremely amused.

"How is that even possible?" Sakura asked skeptically, refusing to believe that something that amazing had gone undetected for so long.

"I have no idea, like I stated before. I doubt my mother knows, and she had the chance to study the archives. She _did_, by the way, manage to escape what happened here, and is quite alive and relatively happy living with my sister-in-law."

"She is? Knowing that her daughter is in the Akatsuki?" Ino took her turn at the skeptism.

"Actually, yes. She isn't a member, but she lives at one of our bases with my sister-in-law, Cean, who is a member. She doesn't get actively involved, but Leader doesn't care. Remember, the Akatsuki raised me. Not my mother."

"What…about…your father…Lilith-chan?" Hinata inquired softly.

"Oh, my mother said that he died before I was born. Cave-in, I think. It happened, from time to time. I'm fine, though. Can't miss what I never had." She grinned evilly—she seemed to do that a lot since she met these three (after all, aren't new victims always fun?).

Feeling slightly nervous, they edged away a little, trying not to be obvious about it. "Bed time!" Lilith announced cheerfully, quickly making a couple of hand signs and hitting them in the foreheads with two of her fingers.

Just as they were about to lose consciousness, they realized that this was the same jutsu that _they _used to put unruly patients to sleep. The last thing they saw was Lilith waving at them with entirely too much cheer.

-

Eventually they came to, realizing as soon as they did that someone—most likely Lilith—had put blankets on top of them. However, this was soon overshadowed by the fact that they hadn't gone to the bathroom for almost an entire day.

Lilith, sitting at the window, fought down a smile and pointed in the direction of the bathroom. Nodding their thanks, the three medics all made a mad dash to use the facilities. Luckily, there were four separate bathrooms.

While they took care of that, the commotion had managed (wonder of wonders) to wake Tobi up. He glanced blearily at Lilith, who just couldn't seem to stop smiling. "Demon-chan likes them a lot, huh?" he asked, rearranging his mask so that it was more comfortable.

She stopped smiling, and appeared thoughtful. "Yes…yes I do, Tobi." She looked out the window. "It's almost twilight."

The atmosphere suddenly changed perceptibly. Lilith inclined her head at Tobi. "Madara."

"You know something, Lilith. You saw something in their memories, didn't you? What is it." This was not a question; it was a demand from the true Leader of the Akatsuki.

She didn't say anything, just gave a slow smirk.

"…Happy circles, huh?" he sighed. Lilith nodded. "That's almost cruel. So, they were sent by Tsunade, correct? And yet you want to keep them around. You're almost as bad as your sister, Cean."

"Nope. Not even close. _She _has it down to an art form. I suppose that this will be amusing, for a while. Plus, Tsunade missed many things, and forgot many things."

"Care to enlighten me?"

"Human memory is remarkably fallible. Tell yourself a lie for long enough, and it becomes the truth. It doesn't take very long, either." She smiled. "They probably won't betray the Akatsuki, in the end. Instead, Konoha will be the one to suffer for the defection. There's more…but I think I hear them coming back." Turning away, Lilith didn't watch as the kunoichi reentered the room and Madara reverted back to Tobi.

"So, you guys about ready? We should be back in the correct world in about a half-hour." Suddenly, she paused. "Um…Tobi? I just got the feeling that we forgot something important."

Tobi seemed confused. "We did? Tobi doesn't recall."

-

_Meanwhile…_

"**LILITH!! TOBI!! I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU GUYS, YEAH!!"**

**-**

"I just got a sudden chill up my spine. Look! Gooseflesh!" Lilith showed her arms to everyone.

"Tobi did too…"

They shrugged. "Oh, well," Lilith said. "Though, I'm still getting a bad feeling. Did we really forget something? I think so…"

Both Tobi and Lilith looked thoughtful. Now the kunoichi also got a similar bad feeling. It had to have been important, right?

Right?

"Hey guys! Twilight!" Lilith pointed excitedly out the window, giving up on remembering.

Everyone rushed to the doorway and the window, to get a better look. What they saw was no less beautiful than the dawn, though it was very different.

An ethereal white-gold fog had settled into the crater while everyone (except Lilith) slept, and was now lit from behind by the descending sun and the encroaching moon and stars. The whole area glowed, and it didn't leave after the sun had finally set and the dark blue sky of the normal world returned.

"Well," Lilith broke the awed silence. "Shall we get going?"

-

**Whew! Done! I liked writing this chapter! Though I don't think that I did the image in my head justice with my descriptions.**

**Please review! Or I'll…threaten to withhold chapters! HA! I finally came up with a good threat! YES!**

**Review! (Actually, we all know that this is an empty threat…I get too excited when I finish a new chapter so I have to post it right then and there…but let's play pretend, shall we?)**


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: (Shifty eyes) Sorry, not here right now. Busy hiding from the men in black coats (lawyers). We've been playing hide and seek for hours now and they still haven't found me yet! …Leave a message? (I no own Naruto and co.)**

**You readers should pay special attention to the quote listed below.**

…**You guys are seriously going to let ME decide the pairings? I must warn you: SasuSaku, NaruHina, and ShikaIno will not find a home in my fanfic. Here's another warning: I absolutely LOVE crack pairings… (Although I AM receptive to other traditional pairings on the side…)**

_**-**_

_**Genius might be described as a supreme capacity for getting its possessors into trouble of all kinds—Samuel Butler**_

-

The trip to the main lair in Rain was rather uneventful—well, if one ignored the fact that Lilith ran into a rock, two trees, and fell off of a branch. Tobi didn't escape unscathed either. He didn't fall off of branches, he ran into them with alarming regularity.

At least Sakura, Ino, and Hinata got to demonstrate their medic abilities. Then they promptly asked how it was that she and Tobi had managed survive this long. To which Lilith replied that Tobi was bad luck, since this had never happened before.

Tobi vehemently denied this, shouting that 'good boys' aren't bad luck; it just wasn't possible.

Whereupon he ran into another branch, cutting his rant short. Luckily, he wasn't hurt too seriously; his mask just got rammed into his face, is all.

Despite all of this, they still managed to get to the base in one piece early the next morning (since they had left the volcano at dusk).

Dissipating the genjutsu that masked the base's front entryway, Lilith and Tobi suddenly shivered.

"Bad feeling?" Sakura asked, remembering the scene from the night before.

They nodded, a freaked out look on Lilith's face.

Gulping visibly, Lilith opened the innocuous-appearing door, to reveal: the base actually extended into the rock face behind it and was much larger than Sakura, Ino, and Hinata would have thought. Cleaner than they would have imagined possible, too.

Lilith motioned for them to follow her, as she opened another door and walked down a hallway. Soon, the girls were hopelessly lost, even though Lilith seemed to know where she was.

She stopped in front of a rather inconspicuous door and knocked quietly. There was a muffled, "Come in." Heeding, she opened the door to reveal, not just Pein, but Konan as well. From the looks of it, the two were more than neck deep in paperwork: Lilith could barely make out the tops of their heads.

She cleared her throat, stifling a chuckle at the pair's expense.

A couple of piles were pushed away, revealing Pein. He stared at Lilith and Tobi for a moment, and then inspected the Leaf kunoichi that had followed Lilith in. He sighed heavily. "Welcome, new excuses for more paperwork." He directed a pointed glare at Lilith. She shrugged.

He waved his hand. "Shut the door, will you?" Openly smiling, Lilith did so. "Thank you." He rubbed his temples wearily. Sighing, he fixed a half-hearted glare at his adopted sister. "YOU. Are in very, very, big trouble."

She blinked. "What did I do, Pein-nii-sama?"

He ignored her and gave Tobi the same look. "You too, Tobi."

The troublemakers had identical auras of confusion.

"You seriously don't remember the…_present…_you two left for us to find? Or, more specifically, Deidara?"

Lilith started to shake her head no, only to stop as the answer dawned on her. "OH! Oh…haaa…" She started to laugh nervously, putting a hand behind her head.

"It wasn't funny. To add insult to injury, you invited the two people who LOVE this sort of thing over to witness. AND. TAKE. PICTURES."

"I'm…sorry?"

"Deidara is probably looking for you. I suggest you two get a head start."

Lilith nodded hurriedly. "Sure, thanks!" She strode to the door, opening it forcefully only to see…

She gulped. "Um…Hi…Deidara-nii-san!" A nervous smile adorned her face at seeing the blonde, Ino-lookalike's decidedly _unhappy_ expression. "Uh…How…are…you?"

"Lilith," he said calmly, with no hint of anger.

She stopped cowering for a moment. "…Yes?"

"It was your idea, right?"

"…Guilty…"

"I…am…going…"

"Yeah?"

"TO FREAKING KILL YOU!!"

Lilith eeped and took off down the hallway, Deidara in hot pursuit with an already lit bomb.

Pein, meanwhile, told them to shut the door, muffling the explosions that came seconds later.

"Is…Lilith-chan…going to…be alright?" Hinata asked worriedly, glancing at the closed door.

"She'll be fine. This happens at least once a week." He gestured at the paperwork. "Thus all of this."

"Repair bills?" Sakura guessed. Pein nodded tiredly.

There was an awkward silence.

Konan, surprisingly, was the one to break it, pushing some stacks of paper to one side to get a clearer look at the kunoichi. "Lilith seems to like you three a lot."

They were startled, a little. "Uh…How could you tell from _that _brief interaction?"

The blue-haired woman smiled. "Of course, I've known her for a very long time. She calls me her 'onee-chan.'"

The three got the distinct impression that they could grow to like Konan.

Pein cleared his throat, ignoring the screams and explosions right outside his office door. "I don't really see any reason to delay this. If you still feel up to joining, go right ahead. If Lilith didn't trust you, you wouldn't be here in front of me. I trust her judgment."

"Um…thank you, Leader-sama," the three bowed.

"Sir? If I may ask…what exactly did Lilith do?" Sakura inquired.

Pein grimaced. "Long story short, with many details left out, it _started_ with Tobi and Lilith replacing his, Deidara's, wardrobe with all female clothes. Revealing ones. He had to put them on in order to ask one of us to borrow regular clothes."

Their expressions mimicked his. Suddenly, a light dawned in Hinata's eyes.

"Um…Leader-sama? Didn't…Deidara-san…die…by Uchiha Sasuke's hands…five years ago?"

The corner of Pein's mouth twitched upwards. "I'll let Lilith fill you three in on what has been going on in the Akatsuki for the past five years. Don't forget to inform us about Konoha as well." They nodded their understanding. "Good. You're going to have to share a room with Lilith for awhile, until we can make separate rooms for you. Hers is the largest and cleanest one, shockingly enough."

"We understand," Ino supplied for all of them. Just then, there was an extremely huge explosion. Pein and Konan desperately grabbed the paper stacks in order to keep them from falling off the desks and scattering everywhere. Two more explosions of the same caliber followed a couple minutes later.

The three kunoichi, used to performing this service for Tsunade, helped steady the towers of paperwork. Pein and Konan both nodded their thanks, just as Lilith smashed the door open, causing one of the stacks to fall anyway.

Pein sighed. Then he took a good look at his sister.

She was covered head to feet in black soot, ashes, and char. She gave him something between a mock salute and a Hail Hitler one. "Mission accomplished, sir!" She coughed, even her breath coming out black and charred. "The new rooms have been blasted out; now they just need to be cleaned!"

He nodded solemnly. Turning to Tobi, he said, "Stay here while Lilith takes the others to their temporary room."

Noticing the Leaf kunoichi's concern, Lilith gave a bright smile and coughed some more. "You should see the state Deidara-nii-san is in; if you think that I look bad." She wheezed a little. "This way, this way…"

Having no choice, they followed.

-

**Poor, poor Pein and Konan. Lilith sort of got what she deserved. I do explain more about this incident later. YES, ITACHI SHOWS UP IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

**Don't forget to vote for your favorite pairings!**

**Review!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. I swear. Because if I did, this would be the storyline. Do you think Kishimoto will be putting this in? NO. HE CANNOT WRITE ROMANCE (crushes, yes; true love, no). So obviously, I don't own the manga. DAMN.**

**Time to answer anonymous reviewers!**

**spswnaruto: Hello again! I understand your concerns, and I explain in this Author's Note about the ages.**

**I feel the need to explain why I chose the ages as I reveal in the next chapter. You should thank spswnaruto, for making me think of it.**

**These are the ages for my fic's time period (canon): Madara (parasitic soul) is very, very old. You know, Kishimoto doesn't say what most of their ages are. Come to think of it, Deidara doesn't seem all that much older than the rest of the gang. Tobi, if he was Obito, would probably be in his early thirties, same as Kakashi. Sasori…isn't human and didn't age properly (he looks like he's in his early twenties, in my fic). Hidan looks young, but he's probably really old, since he is immortal. Same with Kakuzu (though I seriously doubt I'll pair him with anyone). We know Orochimaru, Itachi, and Kisame's ages. Pein and Konan would probably be in their early forties in my fic. (Wow, old!) Zetsu, maybe the same age as Pein and Konan?**

**In any case, I may have to alter the ages some…**

--

_**One-half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it—Sidney Howard**_

_**--**_

"Lilith?"

"Yes, Ino?"

"Exactly how many people are in the Akatsuki?" Lilith slowed down, thinking. This made it easier to follow her and memorize the route back to Pein's office. Why was the base so damn huge?!

"Guys vs. girls, or total? Should I count my mother and the one member you guys probably won't ever see?"

"Guys vs. girls," Sakura replied firmly. "Please, count those other two as well."

"Alright then, let me think." She tapped her head trying to remember. "If there was…no, no…that doesn't seem right…I'm forgetting someone…"

They had stopped walking, since Lilith was pacing around in a tight circle in the middle of the hallway. Noticing their strange looks, she explained that it helped her to think.

After a moment, her face lit up. "There are 11 guys, and 10 girls, counting you three and mom. My mother and my sister are at the base in Grass, one of the girls babysits the base in Lightning by herself most of the time while her partner travels back and forth between the base and Suna. The last two girls travel all around the world, doing various things. I have no idea of where they are most of the time."

She started off down the hall again. "The guys are all here, at this base. I'll give you three the files later, so that you know who you're working with."

"Can we know their names at least?" Ino asked, impatient.

"Hm…some of them you already know, but…err…" She took a deep breath.

"_Theonesyouthoughtwerekilledarestillalivepleasedon'thurtmefornottellingyousooner_." She said that last part too quickly for them to catch.

"Huh? Could you please say that again, Lilith? And…a bit slower this time?"

Lilith's face had turned a bright, embarrassed red. "Err…the members that you thought were dead…um…aren't, for lack of a better term…"

They froze in place, faces paling significantly.

"What happened to not blindsiding us, Lilith?" Sakura asked, having more to fear than the others since she had killed Sasori.

Lilith flinched. "I meant to tell you, but there wasn't a good time. I mean…how do you tell someone that the person that they themselves killed is not only alive, but going to be living in the same hallway? There isn't, and I panicked." Suddenly dropping down into Seiza position on the floor and bowing deeply, she murmured, "I am extremely sorry. Please forgive me."

The three Leaf ninja stared at each other, and then looked back at Lilith.

"There's…nothing to forgive…Lilith-chan." Hinata smiled kindly. "You're right…you couldn't have told us…at least…not if you didn't want us to reconsider joining."

Lilith didn't raise her head. "Are you? Going to change you minds, I mean?"

In a sudden burst of inspiration, Sakura replied, "Only if you answer this one question for me."

Lilith stood up, curiosity rolling off of her in waves. "Depends on the question. Ask away."

Ino and Hinata shot Sakura strange looks. She shrugged. "This has been bothering me for a long time. Now, I finally get a chance to have it answered." They nodded. Turning back to Lilith, she asked, "Five years ago, when Chiyo-baa-sama and I fought Sasori, why didn't he evade that last attack? He could have—easily—but he didn't. It was like…he _chose_ to die, or something. I don't understand it…"

The Akatsuki woman started off down the hall again, thinking on just how the hell she was going to answer _that_. She had seen the memory in Sasori's mind; she knew very well that he had chosen to die. However, she had not searched for the reason. It was just…too personal, she had felt at the time.

Besides, she didn't think that she particularly _wanted_ to know why he had abandoned the Akatsuki that way. Why he had abandoned someone that considered him _family_.

She wouldn't touch _that_ with the proverbial ten-foot pole.

Finally, after at least five minutes of silent walking, she answered Sakura truthfully. "I don't know. I don't _want_ to know. I don't think that _you _even want to know. Just asking made you feel better, right?" Sakura, wide-eyed and staring, nodded. "If, later, you feel like you really want to know the answer, you can ask him yourself." Lilith shrugged. "That's all the advice that I can give you. Sorry."

"That's fine," the pinkette managed to reply, trying to digest this information. _Did_ she really, really want the answer to that question? _No,_ she realized, thinking to herself. _Lilith is right. Maybe, one day—if I have the guts—I'll ask him myself._

The thing is, Lilith hadn't needed to look into Sakura's memories in order to realize that the girl hadn't wanted to know. She just…had a feeling and acted upon it. She'd been called both unobservant and uncannily perceptive in the same breath before.

Ino and Hinata wondered vaguely as to the reason that Lilith wasn't going to pursue the answer, but in the end realized that they didn't really need to. They knew from experience that it was a terrible thing to be forced to leave. But, that hadn't happened here. They weren't sure whether what they had done—abandoning the village and their friends—was such a good idea anymore.

_Because being abandoned by choice was just so much better, right?_

--

"Alright, here we are! This is the hallway where all of the rooms are!" Lilith gestured grandly at the corridor that looked clean and pristine at one end, yet charred and black at the other.

"What…happened…here?" Hinata asked, timidly.

"Err…" Lilith began, looking sheepish. "Well…your new rooms have to be blasted out of the rock in here, so…that's what I was tricking Deidara into doing…"

"Where is he, by the way?" Ino asked, looking around for her look-alike. When they stared at her, she felt she had to defend herself, "What? He stole my look!"

"Um…actually Ino, he's three years older than you…" Lilith pointed out. "So…you actually stole _his_ look…" She cowered under Ino's glare. "Proceeding with the tour!" she remarked hastily.

"Alright." She pointed to the first door on the left. "This is Pein-nii-sama's room. Right across from it is Konan-nee's room." She continued to indicate which was which. "The next door on the left is Zetsu's…I'll have to tell him about you guys so he doesn't eat you by mistake…"

The three Leaf ninja shared an apprehensive glance.

"Right across from it is Tobi's—don't ask me how he got it, I don't know. Next to Zetsu is Hidan, and Kakuzu is next to Tobi. Sasori is here, next to Hidan while Deidara is across from him. Now _this_," she paused, "is my room—thus by extension, your temporary residence. Itachi is across from us, while Kisame is next to him. Those three black, rather burnt-looking holes will eventually be your rooms. Any questions?"

There weren't any, naturally.

"Good! Why don't you guys settle in, while I go say hi to Itachi?" Not wanting to be around to meet the cause of the Uchiha massacre, they did as Lilith ordered.

Once the door shut, Lilith strode over to the weasel's door, knocking softly on the cherry wood. After a minute or so, it was answered by a very sleepy-looking Uchiha (since it was…what? Three in the morning?).

He blinked, his sharingan turned off and his black eyes looking rather milky due to damage. "Lilith," he greeted calmly. Of course—no one else would have the guts to wake him up this early.

She smiled brightly, even though she knew he couldn't see it that well. "Hello, Itachi-nii! I'm home!"

"Hn," he answered.

Lilith was rather fluent in the language of 'Hn' since she had had plenty of practice over the years. Basically, Itachi had said, 'Welcome back.'

She smiled even broader. "Thanks. It's good to be back."

--

**Man that chapter was hard to write!**

**Sorry that the Itachi and Lilith moment was so short, but I have to move on to the next scene! Don't worry; more moments will start to show up more frequently as the story picks up the pace.**

**Review, my much loved readers!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't even really own my own money (because my father gets my tax deductable, and I owe much of it to my parents for breaking the gate and knocking down that wall), so what makes you think I own Naruto?**

**Thanks for the reviews, everyone!**

**spsnaruto: Don't worry about it. I'll give the NaruHina some thought, since you gave a good reason. Pinky and the Brain, LOL. I used to watch that show all the time… Thanks for reviewing and giving me food for thought.**

**The latest chapter of Naruto annoys me…**

**I had a really hard time with Lilith's room, since I was tossing so many different ideas around. In the end, I just gave up and asked my friend Minty Goodness for help. Some of what she suggested gave me an idea I could work with…**

**--**

_**End discrimination. Hate everybody—Elle Eden**_

_**--**_

_Six days earlier…_

"What's that, Cean?" an older version of Lilith asked, peering at the scroll that a hawk had dropped off.

A pale woman with her long ebony hair pulled back into a braid that went down almost to her ankles shrugged. "Probably a mission from Pein."

Her mother-in-law raised an eyebrow. "With the words, 'From: Madara' on it? Not likely." Cean leapt off the couch to inspect the scroll, her strange black eyes—with fiery spears jutting out from the pupils—widening.

"Hmm…" she muttered to herself, being careful to read absolutely everything at least twice. "He didn't insult me even once. This must be serious…"

"What does he want?"

Cean looked up and smiled. "A mission. Of course."

"Wow, that's the first mission you've gotten in a while. Is it important?"

"Very. Sorry, but I'll have to leave right away for it." Cean gave her mother-in-law an apologetic look. "You'll have to clean up the mess by yourself." She gestured to the destroyed room that was filled with body parts, weapons, and drenched with blood. "Those Cloud nin are just so…persistent." She scowled. "And lucky."

"Yes," Lilith's mother replied with an amused look on her face. "They even managed to scratch your arm." She pointed towards a mark that actually looked more like a small scrape. It didn't even bleed.

"Lucky shot," Cean defended herself. Her mother-in-law laughed.

"Do you need me to wash your cloak before you go?"

Cean looked down at the blood-stained garment. "It needs it. I don't though, for this mission." She took it off. "Can you wash it while I'm gone?"

"Sure. How long until you get back?"

Cean ticked off the days on her fingers. "If I want to avoid detection it takes a week of traveling, round trip. So…about 10 days. I'll leave now; no need for anything to be packed. I'll forage." She paused, looking at her clothes. "I think changing into a fresh outfit would be a good idea though…"

"A shower, too," Lilith's mother said, scrunching up her nose comically.

Cean threw a pillow at her mother-in-law, aiming for her head.

--

_Present, in Pein's office, after the girls left…_

The air took a perceptible turn for the darker as soon as the door shut, again.

"Well?" Madara demanded, impatient.

Pein pulled out a scroll from within his cloak; it seemed to be infused with the very essences of evil and darkness. Which was appropriate, since it was.

"The Darkness Scroll? Ah, so Cean must have written regarding her mission." Pein nodded, handing the scroll—one of thirteen—that enabled instant communication when talking mind-to-mind wasn't feasible. There were other properties, but it was unclear as to what they were.

"There's another message as well."

Unfurling the darkness-hued—paper?—Madara glanced at the light purple writing that told of the message originating from the Wind Scroll. Strangely, even though it should be hard to read because of the colour, it was very clear and easy to see.

And so was the writing underneath it.

Putting that aside for now, Madara read the first, from Cean.

_Yo, Madara, Pein, Konan, and Lilith._

_Mission went well. The targets in Konoha were eliminated as ordered. However, there was one unexpected casualty due to interferences._

_Death Toll:_

Madara listed off the names of the dead, all of whom were members of Konoha's council of elders. He was surprised that Cean had managed to eliminate Danzo successfully: that old man always had several protectors. The names of those who protected him were on there too—another surprise. Cean was more observant than he thought.

He paused when he came to the last name—it hadn't been on the list of targets, and certainly wasn't a guardian. Just what had happened in Konoha?

_Hyuuga Hiashi_

_Date of Mission Completion:_

She had listed it; apparently she had finished early this morning. That must have been why Pein and Konan were up so early.

_Details: _

_I made it as difficult as possible for Konoha medics to identify the bodies. I left a nasty little surprise. With luck, the demon fox will soon fall into our hands. The deaths had to be spread out over several hours, since the Copycat Ninja seems to have gotten smarter. I think that Danzo knew something was up, as well. He had three more ANBU guards than he usually does._

_Signing off now, because that blasted Copycat's dogs are on my tail._

_Cean_

_PS: I paid the fox-boy a visit. Cute kid. Do we really have to kill him? Is it too much to ask for the Resurrection of an enemy? I think that Lilith would agree with me. Since she's the one who performs it anyway, you should leave it up to her. (I also sent this message to the Yang Scroll, so I know that Lilith will get this message. HA!)_

Madara sighed after he finished reading. Typical Cean. It was the message underneath that that made his hands shake in anger.

Written in a shade that can only be classified as Twilight, held a disturbing memo:

_Hello, everyone. Especially you, Madara, old friend. How's life? Bad? That's good…for me, at least. When I saw the mission that you gave Cean, I couldn't resist helping. Since your little organization has three more members, I thought I'd hit a little closer to home._

_I lured the current—or should I say former?—Hyuuga Head to where Cean was performing her task. I'll also distract the guards to help her escape. I might even chase the fox your way if I'm feeling nice…_

_See? Aren't I behaving?_

_Forever watching,_

_The Demon of Silence_

_Possessor of the Scroll of Silence_

_PS: Yes, I live to annoy you. I bet it just bites you to have the Scroll of Silence (the strongest one) in my possession. Especially since it allows me to read what is written in the other scrolls._

_--_

The dim room that the three kunoichi had entered was…well…dim. The walls were painted a dark colour, and the lights were off. (How in the world they had jerry-rigged the power to work this deep into the rock will forever remain a mystery.)

Feeling along the wall, Sakura felt two light switches. Flipping the first one, a series of black lights turned on, making the room very eerie. The dark shadows on the walls proved to be various weapons hung up. There was enough weaponry to constitute an arsenal, and make Tenten scream with joy if she ever found this place.

"Lilith probably has light-sensitive eyes," Ino observed, thinking hard. "Since she wears that blindfold all of the time. This switch is for her."

The others nodded, and Sakura turned off the black lights. She flipped the second switch, regular light—bright by comparison—flooded the room instead. Whereas the black lights had made the room feel ominous, the current lighting made it feel more cheery.

The walls were actually painted a very dark shade of purple, similar—yet so different—from the black glass in the volcano.

The bed was situated against the wall in the right side of the room, a large black bookcase pushed up next to it and filling up the rest of the available space there. Purple was apparently Lilith's signature colour, since her sheets were also a light shade of lavender.

Every wall in the bedroom, except for the right-hand one, held a plethora of the aforementioned weaponry. There was a large, circular lilac rug in the middle of the room, the edges of which touched each wall.

Dropping their bags in the middle, they went over to Lilith's bookcase to browse the selection. Several books were actually diaries with a lot of notes in them. Some of it was research, while the rest was made up of personal thoughts.

Right about then, Lilith entered the room with a few folders in her hands. Grinning broadly she sat next to the others on the bed. "I snuck these out of Pein-nii's room. Here you go." She handed them over. 

"These are the girls, and these are the guys. My mother and the member you won't meet don't have files, so I can't show them to you."

"Thanks, Lilith," they chorused, already looking through them.

Sakura, who had picked up Lilith's file, stared in shock. Looking up, she asked incredulously, "You're TWO YEARS older than us?!"

Hinata and Ino stared as well, as Lilith nodded.

"What, did you think I was younger than you?" The girls chose not to answer this, and went back to the files. "I'll take that as a yes…" Lilith muttered to herself, rolling her eyes even though no one could see it.

--

**Another chapter. Please review, it keeps them coming!**

**I'm curious, was the suspense good?**

**And I only have one voter on pairings?! (Two, if you count Freyja's wanting ItaLilith.)**

"**Quick reviews makes for long and loving relationships"—My Mother.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I've only ever bought Volume 2 of the Naruto series, and read the rest online or borrowed from friends. So, obviously, I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Actually, I don't own Airhead or Hn-chan either. They belong to a couple of friends of mine: Airheaded Kitty Luver and akatsuki pawns07.**

**Time for Anonymous Replies!**

**KarasuMurasaki: I'm glad to hear that you like the story. Luckily for you and spswnaruto, I was planning on InoDei from the beginning. Mostly because it would be hilarious.**

**spswnaruto: Yay, I like this chapter a lot, too. I really don't like the elders, and they would have gotten in the way of the storyline. My friend was the one who started a conversation regarding how annoying the old coots were, and it actually helped the storyline, so here we are! I like it when the old coots get killed off to, in any manga or fanfiction or anime. I don't know why…**

**So far, the votes are as follows:**

**InoDei: 2**

**TobiSaku: 1**

**NaruHina: 1**

**ItaLilith: 1**

**--**

_**The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea—Isak Dineson**_

_**--**_

"Here," Lilith said, gently removing the profiles from the girls' clutches. She sorted themcarefully, then handed them back. Flipping open the first, she indicated the picture of a young woman with black hair that fell around her shoulders. She was wearing cat ears, and had a gigantic grin on her face.

"I've arranged these so that the newest members are on top. At least, for the members you didn't know about already. Besides you guys, Airhead is the most recent addition. She joined about a year and a half ago." She flipped to the next one briefly, another girl. "Hn-chan." Another flipping. "Here's mine. Kasumi and Datenshi share a file, since they're twins. After that is Cean's."

Removing the files from the girls' eager grip, she remarked, "Yes, Airhead and Hn-chan are just nicknames. They prefer to be called by that. No clue why." She handed them another pile. "You should look at these first, since you'll be dealing with these people every day. At least, until I assign you your partners. Feel free to tell me who you can't stand being partnered with. I'll probably make sure that you do have to work with them. Partnerships in the Akatsuki practically require that you hate each other to some degree."

While her charges practically devoured the profiles' contents, Lilith took that moment to pull out her own scroll—the Yang. She frowned, reading the list of the dead.

_Hyuuga Hiashi_

"Oh…shit…" she muttered, glaring at the words as if that would make them disappear.

Hearing their—tentative—friend curse, the three spies couldn't help being curious.

"What's that?" Ino inquired, trying to look over Lilith's shoulder. Lilith released the bottom of the scroll, so that it rolled up with a snap.

"A communication scroll."

"Really? How does it work?" Sakura peered at the silver scroll.

Lilith waved it in the air. "I have no idea, actually. I suppose you could ask a demon, but that probably isn't a conversation you'd want to have. What I do know is that there are thirteen of them—one for each demon. Whatever you write on one, will show up on the scroll the message was addressed to."

"Okay, that makes sense…wait. What? Thirteen demons?" Ino did a double-take.

"Oh, um…" Lilith hadn't meant to say that and was now scrambling to cover her ass. She sighed. "I wasn't going to tell you until later—until after you get your rings and everything—but apparently my big mouth has other ideas. Yes, there are more demons that just the tailed ones."

The three girls were in shock, simply put.

"Don't worry too much about it. The only reason that the Akatsuki is aware of their presence is because of some of the old legends in the remaining archives of Yoakegakure." She gestured towards her bookshelf. "I've been studying as much as I can and taking notes, but its slow going."

Hinata gulped. "Do…we…know…where they are?" She was almost afraid to know the answer.

"We have no idea as to the location of three of them. Actually, that's only everyone else in the Akatsuki. I know where one of the three is. The Gobi. The other two, I'm just as clueless about. One of those, the Demon of Silence, has been a constant thorn in the Akatsuki's side ever since its formation." She took a deep breath. "Originally, these scrolls were supposed to remain in the possession of the demons. However, the Akatsuki has obtained all of them except for one."

"The one belonging to the Demon of Silence," Sakura inferred. Lilith nodded. "Does the demon have it?"

"Yes. This," she held up her scroll, "is the Yang scroll. It belonged to the demon Yang, just like the true owner of the Yin scroll is the demon Yin. All of the scrolls are named like that. Except for the Silence. It's called the Scroll of Silence. I think it's actually the most powerful. We don't know all of what any of them are capable of, much less that one."

"Is there a message on yours?"

Lilith flinched. "Yes."

"Can we see it?"

Reluctantly handing it over, Lilith warned, "You're not going to like it."

--

Hinata didn't finish reading. She couldn't—it was like her eyes refused to move any farther on the scroll. She just…sat there, unable to do anything, not even cry.

Sakura and Ino finished, and noticed their friend's distress, even though it didn't show on her face at all. Ino slung an arm over her shoulders, while Sakura rubbed in small circles on Hinata's back.

They stayed like that for a minute or so, before Lilith gave them a tired, half-hearted smile. "Hinata-chan. Look at me please."

The girl obeyed numbly.

"Hinata-chan, your friends and I can't wipe away your tears if you don't cry."

This single statement opened the floodgates like nothing else could have. Lilith hugged all three girls as Hinata sobbed and hiccupped.

Hinata felt so…ashamed of herself. Less than 24 hours after she had left the village, her father had died. He had died thinking—not only that she was weak—but that she was a _traitor._ The only thing she had ever really wanted in her life was recognition from that man. To see, just once, pride for _her_ shining in his eyes. A dream that would never come true, now.

"Hinata-chan?" Sakura ventured, quietly. "Why do you cry for him, after all of the cruel things he did to you?"

"T-that's…j-just the thing…S-Sakura-chan. I-I…_h-hated _him, a little. W-when he k-k-kicked me out…and d-disowned me…I…h-h-hated him… a little bit." She broke out into even more tears. "N-now…I can't even s-say I'm sorry!"

"You hate yourself," Lilith commented, not asking. "Hinata-chan, I'm going to tell you a secret. Promise you three won't tell anyone?" They all nodded, Hinata shakily. "Good. I had to learn this lesson the hard way.

"Hate and love…are the exact same emotion." She gave them a hopeless look, when they stared. "It's true." Unwrapping her arms from around them, she placed a hand over her heart. "They both come from the same place. The only difference is that hate is love with a bit of anger thrown in. Hatred…is better at numbing pain…is all."

Hinata continued to sob, albeit less hard.

"Hinata-chan," Lilith said gently. "I admire your strength. It takes a strong person to love someone after they've mistreated you for so long."

The crying finally tapered off, and Lilith handed her a handkerchief that she pulled out of thin air. "Blow," she ordered.

"_**That was cruel, Lilith."**_

"_I know, Yang," _Lilith thought to the demon.

"_**You now have that girl's complete loyalty. So very, very cruel…"**_

"_I know, Yin."_

"Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, you three should get some sleep," Lilith remarked out loud. "Hinata, I bet that you're tired from crying. The rest of you are probably exhausted, as well."

"What about food? I'm a little hungry…" Ino whined, her stomach hurting a little, but still valiantly trying to keep her eyes open.

Lilith held back a smile. "Don't worry about it; I'll have food ready when you wake up. It's five in the morning; I'll wake you up around two and fix you guys some lunch. Besides, I still have to tell Zetsu not to eat you by mistake."

"Actually, Lilith-chan, have you slept at all this entire time?" Sakura asked.

"No. I have errands to do, yet. I'll go to sleep myself in a couple of hours. I don't sleep much, anyway." She clapped her hands. "Bed! Now!"

Seeing as how it was futile to argue when they were about to pass out, they did as they were told.

_--_

**What a revelation. Two demons! No wonder Tobi calls her Demon-chan. (Though there are actually other reasons, too.)**

**I just noticed: this is the 13****th**** installment. Reread this chapter and keep that in mind…**

**Did any of you expect this?**

**Review! Or I'll…sick the Demon of Silence on you! Wait…that would give spoilers…never mind…**

**REVIEW ANYWAY!!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Wish in one hand, shit in the other. See which one fills up faster. I don't own Naruto.**

**By the way, my friend Demidemon is the source for the disclaimer. Her fault for getting it stuck in my mind.**

**The votes are as follows:**

**InoDei: 2**

**TobiSaku: 2**

**NaruHina: 2**

**ItaLilith: 1**

**You don't have to vote for just these pairings! Others are welcome to be voted upon! I changed my mind about letting you guys vote for NaruHina, as you can see. I can make it work. Still no SasuSaku, though. Because Sasuke is a teme who I love to torture… (Shifty eyes)**

**Keep in mind while you read that this is the 13****th**** Chapter. And, as I told rukia23, 13 is my favorite number! It's also been a month since I first posted this fic. Amazing, huh?**

**Note: Cean has this…thing about lying. She prefers to avoid it whenever possible.**

**The quote below is rather sinister, when you think about it…**

**--**

_**Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?—Abraham Lincoln**_

_**--**_

Saying that the Hokage was in a panic would be an understatement. As soon as she sends her strongest medics away, several unidentifiable bodies turn up! Even Tsunade had no idea who they actually were, though she could guess.

After all, Suna's elders had all been murdered in a similar way less than a year ago. The same with Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri within the last three years.

But why?

Bodies burned beyond recognition. Identifying the victims was virtually impossible, since all that was left was blackened bones. Bones that crumbled into ash with the lightest of touches.

Luckily, the killer had been careless, or maybe just pressed for time. The nin-dogs were easily able to follow the smell of burnt flesh that clung to the murderer. Hopefully, they would be able to catch them with a little bit of luck.

_**--**_

'_Crap!' _Cean thought to herself as she abruptly turned, heading for a nearby stream. _'Those damn dogs! I thought that stopping by the fox-boy's house would at least slow them down and confuse the trail! If not, make them blame the Kyuubi instead!'_

Stopping in front of the running water, she sat down on a rock and just breathed for a moment. Running non-stop and evading nin-dogs and kikaichuu alike without chakra was difficult! Especially since she'd been doing it for a couple of hours, now.

With a sudden burst of inspiration, she took a deep breath and leaped into the freezing cold water. Winter may have officially just ended, but try telling that to the snow-melt. Luckily, the current was swift, and carried her a long ways—back towards Konoha.

After about a minute, she surfaced and crawled on top of the water. Taking out a kunai, she viciously sliced her hair off at the shoulders. Removing the red ribbon and pulling back what was left of her ebony locks, she burned the braid with a small fire jutsu.

Ducking back into the water, she let it carry her farther downstream. After another couple of minutes—right around the point where she couldn't feel her toes and fingers anymore—she resurfaced. Standing on the water, she used up as little chakra as possible in order to avoid being detected.

Working quickly, she performed other small techniques—ones that wouldn't register on _Lilith's_ radar, much less on that of clumsy Leaf ninja. One to dry her clothes, and another to dye her remaining hair a platinum blond. Reaching into one of her pockets (gotta love those) she had a pair of disposable contacts that made her eyes look just plain black.

Behold, a ready-made disguise.

Since she had erased what little scent that she had, she strolled confidently up to the gates of the Hidden Village just as dawn was breaking. She would be late, but she could send a message through the scroll.

In the meantime, she would hide in plain sight.

--

"Papers," the guard demanded, holding out his hand expectantly. Smiling, Cean gave them to him. What do you know—carrying around these sorts of things was extremely useful. She had found them in the pocket of her black trench coat, which was thankfully waterproof.

The Wind Scroll was undamaged as well, but that was because of the strange material it was made from.

The guard's eyes widened as he looked over the papers. "I'm sorry, Yamashi-san. Please, go right on through." Cean nodded, taking back the genuine passport. She reminded herself to thank Lilith for getting her these from the government in Tsukigakure.

It was also helpful that the Yamashi clan was very reclusive. Arranging for the head to have a long-lost daughter of 23 (not Cean's actual age) wasn't that difficult. It was even easier to believe due to the head's multiple illicit affairs of his youth.

Feeling decidedly hungry, Yamashi Akiko—illegitimate heiress to the prestigious Yamashi clan—wandered around Konoha looking for a certain fox-boy's favorite food stand.

--

"Excuse me? I'd like a bowl of Miso ramen, please," 'Akiko' placed her order.

"Sure thing, coming right up," Ayame chirped, pleased to see that someone other than Naruto would actually eat ramen this early in the morning. "By the way, if you don't mind me asking, are you from around here? I've never seen you before."

Cean smiled. "It's my first time here, actually." First time at the ramen stand, in reality. "I'm from the Moon village." Sort of the truth—Akiko was from there.

Ayame blinked. "That's all the way over in the county of Void, right? So what brings you all the way out here?"

"Vacation, of sorts."

"GOOD MORNING AYAME-CHAN!!" someone shouted happily at the waitress, unknowingly deafening Cean temporarily. Being in the Akatsuki had forced her hearing to become extremely sharp, which was a severe disadvantage when it came to the world's number one knuckleheaded ninja.

When he finally noticed the poor Akatsuki member, she was only just regaining her ability to hear in her right ear. "Who's this?" he asked in an inside voice (still really loud).

Cean held out her hand for him to shake. "Akiko," she supplied, not feeling up to answering questions about the Yamashi heiress. Then again, she mused, he probably had no idea that such a clan existed—much less who was in line to become the next head.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to be the next Hokage! DATTEBAYO!!"

Cean winced again. Luckily, she was saved from answering by the arrival of her ramen. Naruto ordered as well, but for once was silent while he waited. Cean, sensing something wrong, asked politely, "Is there something on your mind?"

He nodded. "But," he said, looking away, "it's probably not something a stranger would want to hear."

She raised an eyebrow. "Try me. I've got time." Inside, she berated herself. Why was she doing this? The answer wasn't hard to come by, though. The expression on his face told of sorrow, an emotion she knew only too well.

"Well, it started like this…"

--

"So, let me get this straight. Three of your best friends, accomplished kunoichi and medics, abandoned the village without any explanation or warning? Is that right?" Cean inquired, hoping that Lilith hadn't spirited them away.

He nodded. "They've been acting a little weird for the past couple of weeks, though," he continued, barely touching his third bowl of ramen.

"And you blame yourself." Another half-hearted nod.

Ayame and her father cast worried glances in Naruto's direction, concerned by how little he was eating. Cean saw this, and realized that the situation must be pretty bad, no matter how trivial she personally considered it.

Then again, sorrow was sorrow. And like calls to like.

"Hey, since this is my first time around here, would you mind showing me where everything is? I think that my sister-in-law would like some souvenirs."

He brightened almost immediately. "Alright! Sure thing, Akiko-chan!" Quickly downing his ramen, he was about to put some money down for his food, when Cean beat him to it.

"Consider this payment for the tour," she explained, smiling.

However, they didn't get very far before the two tall individuals were stopped by an ANBU in a hawk mask. The obstruction nodded towards Naruto. "Yo, Naruto," he greeted. Turning to Cean, he bowed. "Yamashi-sama."

"Is there something you need, ANBU-sama?" Cean asked politely towards the ANBU—she strongly suspected that it was the Copycat. Naruto was too busy trying to wrap his head around the fact that his former teacher just called his new friend 'sama.'

"The Hokage requires both of you to attend a meeting in her office." With that, Kakashi vanished in a poof of smoke.

"Why would Baa-chan want to see you?" Naruto asked Cean, who shrugged.

"Let's go and find out."

--

**Wow, I wrote this one really fast! Next weekend I'm going camping, and I don't think that they have WIFI, so you guys may have to wait awhile for the next chapter…**

**Sorry!**

…**For some, inexplicable reason, I feel the need to explain why Cean's alias is what it is. Yama means mountain, and shi means death. Akiko is the name of a Japanese friend of the family and she'll be putting up with me for a couple of weeks when I go to Japan next year. She is AWESOME. So, Cean's assumed name is partially in honor of her.**

**Review! PLEASE! IT WILL INSPIRE ME TO WRITE OVER THE CAMPING WEEKEND SO THAT I WILL UPDATE EVEN FASTER!**


	15. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: You no own. I no sue. I no own, and you no sue.**

**You know, guys (if any are actually reading this story) and gals (who I KNOW are) I need your votes! For the next couple of chapters, I'm going to write about what is going on in Konoha with Cean and Naruto. This is all to allow you more time to vote.**

**Voting ends in about 3 or 4 chapters! So anonymous people please vote as well!**

**Votes thus far:**

**InoDei: 4**

**TobiSaku: 3**

**NaruHina: 2**

**ItaLilith: 4**

**TobiHina: 2**

**Not everyone that voted for this actually reviewed, because I see them in school and asked what they thought.**

**Special Thanks to Airheaded Kitty Luver who caught an embarrassing grammar error in the last chapter.**

**--**

_**"Because I could not stop for Death --  
He kindly stopped for me --  
The carriage held but just ourselves  
And immortality."**_

_**--Emily Dickinson**_

_**--**_

_Akatsuki Base…_

"Wait, Lilith-chan?" The woman halted on her way out the door and turned to face the kunoichi. Taking this as a sign to continue, Ino asked about something that had bothered her. "In the files, what's up with the ranking system?"

"And this couldn't wait until morning?"

"It is—technically—morning."

Lilith sighed. "Well, basically it just tells of the power difference between individuals. It's listed as ANBU and ANBU Captain because that really is the difference in power. Even if the person is actually stronger than ANBU or ANBU Captain, they still get listed as such to show where they're placed in the scheme of things. Understand?"

"I…have a question…Lilith-chan." Said older woman looked in surprise over towards Hinata, and nodded. "Well…" she pulled out a file from the stack which was next to them on the floor. "This file…has almost no information in it."

"Yeah, that must be Cean's. What of it?"

"That's…not what I'm…concerned about." Lilith tilted her head to one side. "It's that…she doesn't have a rank. Why?"

Lilith strode over and held out her hand for the file. The three Konoha ninja watched in interest to see how their friend could read with the blindfold that she had yet to take off. They understood when Lilith gently ran her fingers over the page. The writing had been raised, so that she could read with her hands and not her eyes.

_Name: Cean Elpis Asklepios_

_Age: Unknown (refuses to answer)_

_Original Village: Unknown (lived in Yoake for awhile)_

_Bloodline Limit: None_

_Bingo Book Status: Listed as several different people_

_Ring: Aku (evil)_

_Rank: Not Classifiable_

_Strengths: Unknown_

_Weaknesses: Unknown_

_Base: Grass_

_Sponsor(s): N/A_

_Trainer(s): N/A_

_Specialty: Uses ice and fire jutsus predominantly. Also uses other jutsus in conjunction with specially made daggers._

_Notes: Widowed wife of Lilith's deceased brother, Akira. Survivor of Yoakegakure. Joined 19 years ago. Reclusive. Nothing else is known for certain._

"Ah," Lilith remarked. "Well, this one is somewhat difficult to explain. Cean's power…is…_difficult…_to classify. Though, she would probably be ranked as ANBU Captain. She doesn't show up very often, and rarely demonstrates any power whatsoever. She doesn't go on many missions, either."

"There's more to it," Sakura guessed, keeping an eye on Lilith's body language.

"Yeah. How to explain this…well, I suppose it would be like…drowning." The others stared at her. "Let me ask you this—if you were drowning, what would you do?"

"Try to get to the surface," they all answered simultaneously.

Lilith nodded, "Correct. It's instinct for any creature to reach for light, warmth, and life. That's what the surface stands for. Cean, on the other hand…wouldn't reach for that. She has always, and always will, reach for the dark depths first, without even trying for the surface. It's basically a metaphor for saying just where you get your power source from."

"So…why does she not reach for the surface?" Ino asked, unable to fathom such a thing.

"I don't know."

"What…does…the dark depths…stand for?" Hinata asked, looking up from where she was fiddling with her hands.

Lilith was silent for a moment. "As near as I can tell, anyone can reach for the depths. They just won't do it first, and thus the power they get from it is lessened," she replied, avoiding the question. "I think that I tapped into it myself when I destroyed Yoakegakure." Even two demons couldn't have made that particular destruction. They helped, but the form the power took, the glass, was all Lilith.

The girls waited patiently for Lilith to get around to answering the inquiry.

"From what I've experience, it stands for the exact opposite of the surface, and why the Kanji on her ring is what it is."

_Coldness, Darkness, and, not Death, but Immortality._

The words didn't have to be spoken aloud for the meaning to be understood.

"Like Hidan, Kakuzu, and formerly Sasori—who now has a human body, by the way—Cean doesn't seem to age. However, those three only found ways to circumvent time, not get rid of it completely. In Cean's case, I think it's the power source, but I'm not certain." Lilith sighed heavily. "She achieved what many have sought after, but I don't think that she ever wanted it. Maybe that's the key…" she trailed off.

Snapping her head back to her stunned guests, she growled, "Enough. Bed. NOW." They nodded, slipping into the sleeping bags that they had set up on the floor.

But before Lilith left, they distinctly heard her mumble to herself, "I don't know whether to fear, or pity Cean."

--

_Konoha…_

Cean and Naruto walked side-by-side on their way to the Hokage Tower in silence. About half-way there, the Akatsuki in disguise remarked, looking at her companion out of the corner of her eye, "I just remembered something. Konoha is where one Uchiha Sasuke is from, and his former teammates were the Kyuubi container and the Hokage's apprentice."

Naruto flinched visibly, something that the manipulative woman took notice of. "Ah, so you're his teammate. So one of the kunoichi that defected was also his teammate. Can I give you some advice, based off of what I've personally experienced?"

The blonde boy glanced warily at Cean, and nodded.

"Never go searching for power."

He blinked, surprised at this turn of events. "Why?" he asked, genuinely curious.

She was silent for a moment. "I mean, striving to become stronger is a good thing, but searching for power in its raw form is exceedingly dangerous. It eats its possessor alive. The Uchiha has no idea of what he's after." She looked at him straight in the eye, which most people found unnerving. "Promise me, would you?"

Naruto nodded confidently. "Yes! DATTEBAYO!!" he yelled, nearly deafening the smiling Cean.

She laughed at his antics. The kid really was very cute and likable. She really would feel guilty manipulating him, and would rather avoid it no matter what. He was a ray of sunshine; even after all he had gone through.

No, she would make sure that Madara never managed to get his claws on him. If the demon must be extracted, then so be it. There were other ways that didn't involve death.

In fact, if she recalled correctly, there was a scroll that detailed how to remove the Kyuubi without killing its host.

Well then, just one more item on the list of things to be stolen.

--

**I saw the kid with Sasuke-hair again! He was unbearably cute because someone had drawn a little heart in blue eyeliner underneath his left eye. TOO CUTE!!**

**I'm not sure I liked how this chapter turned out. I wanted to portray Cean as dangerous, but with a kind heart. She's not evil, nor is she all powerful. She keeps to herself and out of everyone's way, and doesn't want to cause harm or trouble.**

**The drowning thing really is a metaphor that I came up with. I couldn't think of a better way to describe it, sorry.**

**Please review! Desperate Author, here!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Naruto, because I can't draw humans worth crap. Almost anything else, sure. But not humans. Not even stick figures. Or fluffy things. Don't ask…**

**Hello again and thanks everyone for the reviews!**

**Votes:**

**InoDei: 5**

**TobiSaku: 3**

**NaruHina: 2**

**ItaLilith: 4**

**TobiHina: 2**

**--**

_**I am always with myself and it is I who am my tormentor—Count Leo Tolstoy**_

_**--**_

Naruto, for once, knocked on the door to the Hokage's office.

"Come in," a muffled voice called.

Throwing the door open, Naruto yelled, "BAA-CHAN! WHY DID YOU SUMMON US?"

Tsunade threw a shoe, which he ducked. Unfortunately, since Cean was right behind him, it hit her right in the face. Since the Hokage had used her super strength, it caused the poor Akatsuki woman to topple over backwards.

"Yamashi-san!" Tsunade exclaimed. "I'm so sorry! I didn't see you! Are you alright?"

Cean blinked rapidly. "Look at the pretty stars…" Sitting upright she held her head in her hands. "Make the world stop spinning, please. I want to get off now…"

Naruto laughed. Glaring, Cean swung her arm and knocked his legs out from under him. He landed face first, while Cean winced and shook her arm a little. "What are your legs made out of?" she asked. "Steel?"

"Bone, I'm pretty sure," Naruto mumbled into the carpet.

Rolling her eyes, Cean stood up and held out a hand for her blonde friend. He took it, and stood up as well. Right about then, the two noticed that there were other people in the room, too.

Cean bowed politely to everyone. "Yamashi Akiko. Pleased to meet you."

The two with blank eyes nodded back to her.

"Hyuuga Neji."

"Hyuuga Hanabi."

"Tenten," the girl with brown hair pulled up in buns introduced, holding out her hand for the stranger to shake. Tenten pointed over to a chair in the corner where a man with a spiky ponytail was sleeping. "That's Nara Shikamaru."

"I AM ROCK LEE! YOU SHINE WITH MUCH YOUTH!!" Cean gave him a weird look.

"YES, MY BELOVED STUDENT! SHE IS THE EPITOME OF YOUTHFULLNESS! YOUTHFUL ONE! I AM MAITO GAI!"

Feeling distinctly scared, she thought, '_How the hell did Kisame stand it when he fought them?! They're like Tobi…only worse!'_

"Now that everyone has introduced themselves," Tsunade began, "I can get to the point." All eyes focused on the Hokage. "Last night, the entire council of elders was assassinated, along with their bodyguards."

There was dead silence for a minute as that sank in. Then, "Baa-chan! How could that happen?!"

The others nodded, even Cean who had to act surprised.

Tsunade sighed heavily. "That's what we're trying to find out, Naruto." She looked straight at Cean. "Yamashi-san."

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"I must apologize, but you're entering Konoha so soon after our trackers lost the perpetrator is suspicious." Tsunade indicated the snoring Shikamaru. "Our tactician was up the entire night, so please excuse him. However, before he dozed off, he informed me to be ruthless in my questioning. Would you submit to an interrogation under the influence of truth serum?"

Cean couldn't help being amazed as the astuteness. She had thought that Konoha ninja weren't this smart. Oh, well. This was what she got for underestimating them. And there were always ways to get around a truth serum.

"Ugh…very well. I understand the reasoning behind it, but does this have any nasty side affects? Like, losing my mind, perhaps? Like Sodium Pentothal does?"

The Hokage shook her head. "We don't use that anymore. Our head of interrogation complained too much about how his prisoners would be completely useless after getting a single dose. Myself, and three of my best medics devised a different liquid that has the same properties without any nasty side effects. Well, it tastes pretty bitter, but that's about it."

Cean grimaced for real. "Can you put it in some tea, or something? I don't particularly like bitter things."

"Sure, what kind?"

She thought hard about it. "Do you have Dragon Well? It's a type of green tea…"

"Maybe. Shizune!" The assistant entered the room, holding her pet pig. "Can you get us some Dragon Well green tea? Some honey, sugar, and cream too, if you don't mind." Once Shizune left, Tsunade turned back to the assembled groups. "While we're waiting, I have some more information to share."

She looked pointedly at the two Hyuugas present. "There was one victim extra victim that was not part of the council or those that guarded them. Since the body was not as burnt as the others, we were able to positively identify who it once was." Hesitating, she said, "Hyuuga…Hiashi. Hanabi, you are the new clan head."

The young girl shook her head numbly. "Not until I'm 22. Those are the rules."

Tsunade frowned. "I shudder to think of the Hyuuga clan in the hands of those power hungry fools. Maybe the killer could come back and off them, eh?" she said, trying to lighten the mood and failing miserably.

'_That can be arranged…' _Cean thought, putting it near the top of her To Do list. It was ranked at number 5; below Survive, Fool the Truth Serum, Write an Official Report (damn paperwork) and Letters, and Steal the Scroll, respectively. _'On second thought,' _she amended, '_better put it at number 6. Lilith will probably want souvenirs.'_

"Moving on," the Hokage continued, aware of the slightly calculating spark behind Cean's eyes. This one would miss nothing. "Neji, I believe that there was something you and your team wished to speak about with Shikamaru and I?"

Nudging the lazy genius awake, Cean pointed towards where the conversation was taking place. Nodding his thanks to her, he paid attention to Neji's retelling of what had transpired in their pursuit of Sakura, Ino, and Hinata.

Also listening, Cean thought, _'Wonderful. Lilith really did take them. Sounds like they went along willingly, though.'_

When he was finished, Tsunade stared into space, lost in thought. Finally, she sighed. "I don't think that we can do anything else. We can't afford to waste any more resources. Sorry, Naruto. I know you wanted to go after them."

The blonde boy looked extremely dejected, and Cean's heart went out to him. Acting rashly for the first time in a very long time, she spoke up. "Wait. After I pass this test with the serum," and she had no doubt that she would, "I can do a little bit of hunting. I have some friends that travel around a lot, and I can relay back anything that they find out on the subject. I hear many things as well, back at my home in Grass. Not for free of course."

Tsunade gave her a level look. "I'll think about it," she conceded, as Shizune walked back in with a tray carrying the tea and goodies to put into it.

--

**Sorry to end it there, but the next part with the truth serum is important and very long. Cean deserves that ring of hers, doesn't she?**

**I love Dragon Well, so I had to put it in. I like a lot of teas, but that one is my current favorite. Unlike Cean, I absolutely love bitter things. Just not coffee. The only exception to that rule is Irish Coffee, because of its supreme bitterness. I even eat baker's chocolate…**

**Does anybody actually read these ending Author's Notes?**

**Review please! Also, if you guys have any suggestions for me, I'd be glad to hear them! Just leave them in a review or PM me! I check my email frequently!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Take it away, Kyuubi!**

**Kyuubi: …**

**Me: Pleeeeeeaase?**

**Kyuubi: …I have no opposable thumbs.**

**Me: …Oh. Naruto?**

**Naruto: Sure! Dragon'sHost doesn't own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**Me: Thank you. Kyuubi, you suck.**

**Kyuubi: Tch.**

**Naruto: Wait, somebody owns me?**

**Kyuubi: Took you this long to figure that out, kid?**

**Votes:**

**InoDei: 6**

**TobiSaku: 4**

**NaruHina: 3**

**ItaLilith: 5**

**TobiHina: 2**

**I had to research Sodium Pentothal in order to more accurately describe how Cean dances around the truth. Turns out, it is possible to fool it. It also has a lot of uses outside of being a truth serum.**

**--**

_**When you want to fool the world, tell the truth—Otto von Bismarck**_

_**--**_

"Thank you for the tea," Cean smiled at Shizune and Tsunade, showing them that she had nothing to fear from the truth serum. Telling the truth while avoiding giving the answers was something that she excelled at, after all. She'd had plenty of practice over the long years.

It was one of the few things that kept her entertained.

'_It will be interesting to see how this goes,' _ Cean mused as the Hokage poured some of the powdery drug into her tea. _'I do not care about what I reveal, but will she ask the right questions? I wonder…'_

Heaping large amounts of sugar, cream, and honey into the tea, Cean still grimaced at the bitter aftertaste. How ironic: the substance that made one tell the truth was just as bitter as the truth itself usually was.

She poured herself another cup, with no truth serum or sweeteners added. She smiled lightly; she loved the taste of Dragon Well. It was just such an odd tea.

The others in the room chose to sample the unusual beverage that Cean had requested.

"It's…very…mild…" the Hokage frowned, trying to pin down what the taste was. "It reminds me of vegetables…but…I can't put my finger down on which one."

"Yeah," Tenten agreed, nodding vigorously. "It has a veggie flavour, but is otherwise very plain."

"It tastes like what it is," Cean said, amused. "Leaves in water. At least, that's what I think."

"Not unpleasant, however," the stoic Hyuuga observed calmly, accepting another cup. Neji, along with Cean, was the only other one to do such. It really wasn't bad, it just wasn't interesting enough to continue drinking, for most.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Troublesome…" he muttered, looking as if he were going to fall asleep again.

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, Yamashi-san?"

"Apparently this strain is very different from Sodium Pentothal, since you ingest it instead of inject it. Just how different is it?"

"Hmm," the Hokage thought. "As far as I'm aware, there is no real difference, other than the lack of side effects and different administration."

"Thank you." Cean nearly sighed. This was going to be too easy, then. Sodium Pentothal, for an experienced liar, could still be fooled, since all it did was repress higher cortical functioning. It made it harder to tell a lie, since lies were often more complex than the truth. Its effectiveness is dubious, at best.

Wait, as far as she knew? Was Cean setting herself up to become a guinea pig? This thought occurred to her as she felt a headache coming on.

"Ugh…" she groaned. "I thought you said the side effects were different…" She paused. "At least there's no nausea…on second thought—forget it. There it is."

"Let's just get this over with then, so I can cleanse your system of it," Tsunade suggested. Cean nodded, over exaggerating the pain and nausea. Exaggerating wasn't technically lying, in her book. Besides, it would help put her in a better situation.

"Alright then, what is your name?"

Cean stared at her for a moment, biting back the automatic reply that the serum practically forced her brain to give. "Yamashi Akiko. Why ask such an ordinary question?" Technically, she _was_ Akiko. She had a lot of names, this was just one of them.

"So that all of the bases are covered. Next—how did you, Yamashi Akiko, get past the sentries in the forest on your way here?" She had to repeat the name so that the records, that Shizune was diligently writing, showed just who she was addressing.

This impressed Cean a little, she hadn't thought that the Hokage would ask such an…intelligent…question. Not only would she find out if 'Akiko' was the murderer, it also gave them information with which she could beef up the Hidden Leaf's defenses.

_Don't underestimate them… _a quiet voice that Cean labeled as a conscience whispered.

What was actually sad and pathetic, Cean realized, was that when she had entered the first time she hadn't been actively trying to avoid Konoha's sentries. Which is what she told them, leaving out the 'first time' part. She had even walked down a well-marked trail that looked like it was used often.

Tsunade stared at her 'guest.' She would have to have the dozing Shikamaru devise a new plan for sentry rotation and posts. Heaven forbid if an Akatsuki had managed to infiltrate the village so easily…

"Are you, Yamashi Akiko, affiliated with the Akatsuki or any other criminal organization?"

"No." Akiko was not. Even though she, Cean, was a member, Madara refused to acknowledge her as a colleague. Only as an annoyance greater than Tobi. Gotta love loopholes. The Hokage must have been trying to be clever, since it wouldn't be a lie if someone had said that they weren't a member if they were actually only affiliated with said group.

'_She needs to look up the definition of affiliation: To adopt or accept as a member, subordinate associate, or branch. The Leader refuses to acknowledge me as any of these.'_

After all, Madara made his hatred of the woman quite clear. She had immortality within her grasp—which she didn't want—while he had to make do with possessing a descendant's body.

However, his hatred for her paled in comparison to her hatred for him.

"Why are you, Yamashi Akiko, in the village?"

"I don't really know. Just…a feeling. So I'm treating it as a vacation." Truth. Always the truth. She could've gone right on past Konoha and would've eventually escaped her pursuers. She hadn't. 

Something had drawn her to the village—not like a moth to a flame, but rather like the flame to the moth…

There was a reason why she rarely got any missions.

The dark power was attracted to the same things that the Demon of Silence was.

Fear of monsters attracts monsters, after all.

And jinchuuriki ooze that delicious fear more than anyone else.

There was no doubt in her mind that she wasn't a monster. Thus, Cean felt supremely calm in Naruto's presence. A cat with a catnip mouse.

"Have you, Yamashi Akiko, at any point worn a disguise within the past two days?"

"No." Key word there being: worn. Wearing contacts doesn't count, in Cean's book.

"Did you, Yamashi Akiko, kill the council? Hyuuga Hiashi?"

"No." _'Akiko didn't.'_

"Did you, Yamashi Akiko, assist in the deaths in any way?"

"No."

"Do you, Yamashi Akiko, harbour any ill intentions towards Konohagakure?"

To the village as a whole? "No." Towards the Hyuuga elders? Definitely. Naruto? …Maybe.

"Then we're done!"

Cean blinked. That was it? Apparently so, since the Hokage was breaking out the sake. "Wait," she said, holding up a hand. "Can't you get rid of the serum, first?"

Nodding, Tsunade did as such, painfully drawing it out through a tenketsu on Cean's right arm. The Akatsuki allowed no indication of any pain to cross her features. She actually had a rather high pain threshold, not that she would tell them that…

--

**Sorry to cut it off there, but I have Finals next week for both college and high school so I need to study. I didn't really like how this chapter came out. I promise to get back to the Akatsuki! However, this is an extremely important part of the plot. So, bear with me, please.**

**I just realized something. Back when I first created Cean in my mind, I chose her favorite season to be autumn. I even had a good reason picked out. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the alias I picked for her translated to 'Autumn Child'! Complete and total accident, I swear!**

**Also, I have a challenge for you readers. I have placed a lot of symbolism in all of my fanfictions, but I want you to find it in this one. Right now, try to think of what I do with numbers…by the way, there will be more of the number symbolism later on. Just try and find what I've already put in there.**

**Here's a hint: three years ago, 'Akiko' was 23. Now she's 26. That's important. (Oh, and Pein and Konan's ages in my fic are both 39. Also important).**

**Have fun! Tell me what you come up with in a review!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Hooray for long ass Author's Notes!**

**I know I said that it was going to be a while before I updated, but inspiration struck and I felt compelled to procrastinate on the studying and work on a new chapter, instead. I'll do my best to update this week…cause the writer's block went away (right when I don't have the time either, #ing little…). Plus, I feel like I have no heart when I don't update right away. I know I don't have one to begin with, but I like having the illusion that I do.**

**Disclaimer: Okay, okay…I may not own Naruto, but I do own the ever so glompable Cean, Lilith, Kasumi, and Datenshi!**

**Kasumi: GLOMP ME AND DIE.**

**Me: You're no fun.**

**Kasumi: That's right.**

**Me: Humph! I'll just have to get you a boyfriend in your story! Was planning on it, too!**

**Kasumi: …DIE. Just…DIE, ALREADY…**

**Me: I'll update Kasumi's story soon, since she insists.**

**Kasumi: … (shaking in anger) …**

**Me: I'm going to get to Lilith's story now, since I think Kasumi'll kill me in my sleep if I don't…**

**Kasumi: You little... (the rest is censored)**

**Me: Whoa…I don't even censor Hidan! Yet you got one! Congratulations, Kasumi!**

**Kasumi: (more censoring)**

**Me: That's anatomically impossible, Kasumi. (bolts with Kasumi hot on tail) NO! NOT THE TAIL!! KASUMI!!**

**-**

**Updates will come less, now that I've begun summer work and chores…sorry. Not my fault I live on a farm. I'm not 18 yet, I can't leave.**

**This is it everybody! I'm announcing the pairings next chapter! No more voting after this! Though you can tell me who you think their partners in the Akatsuki should be. I'm having issues, there. Ino and Deidara will be partners, though. Because that's just funny. No clue what to do with Sakura and Hinata.**

**No takers on my challenge? Did I make it too hard? Well, here's a couple more hints: my favorite number is 13. Itachi is almost 26. When the sequel is over, Lilith will be 26 (she's 22). It's been 5 **

**years since Shippuden, and also 8 years since Sasuke abandoned his village. Tsunade told the kunoichi to stay with the Akatsuki for 3 years. All is important.**

**Have fun!**

**This quote would be terrifying if Lilith said it…**

**--**

_**Humor is a spontaneous, wonderful bit of an outburst that just comes. It's unbridled, it's unplanned, it's full of surprises—Erma Bombeck**_

_**--**_

When the truth serum was fully drawn out, both Cean and Tsunade heaved identical sighs of relief, glad that the unconventional interrogation session was at an end.

"BAA-CHAN!" Everyone in the room jumped at Naruto's loud voice. He'd been so quiet, that they had forgotten that he was there.

"What is it now, Naruto?" He opened his mouth, but the Hokage interrupted, "No, Naruto, I'm not sending you after Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, or Hinata."

He drooped. "Why, Baa-chan?"

"Because just before they left, they had been promoted to ANBU. You're only a jounin, Naruto. You don't have enough rank for that kind of mission."

"But, Baa-chan! I'm only a jounin because of what the council decreed! Now that they're gone, I can join! DATTEBAYO!!"

Cean raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that makes you sound suspicious, right?" He continued yelling, oblivious. "Apparently not."

"No! You don't have the training necessary to join! The power, yes! The control and versatility, no! You'd need to find yourself a trainer that's strong enough to be in ANBU or already is! I doubt that anyone in this village has the talent, patience, or time to teach you!"

"AKIKO-CHAN CAN TEACH ME!! THAT WAY I CAN SEARCH FOR THE GIRLS AND TRAIN AT THE SAME TIME!! DATTEBAYO!!"

In response to this outburst, everyone in the room stared at him with wide eyes and slack jaws, including Cean.

"RIGHT, AKIKO-CHAN?! YOU'RE STRONG, RIGHT?!"

"'Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped,'" Cean quoted Elbert Hubbard, still in shock. This was _not _part of her plans…

And now everyone else in the room had transferred their gaze to Cean. Just…wonderful…

"That might actually be a good idea, Naruto," Tsunade remarked, considering it. "However, we don't actually know how strong Yamashi-san is. We'll have to test her. Why not tomorrow, at around…shall we say 9 AM?"

"Wait, don't I get a say in this? I don't want a student. I live in Grass, and am only here temporarily." Cean was starting to panic, something she rarely ever did. This was not good, this was not good…

"Do you have any place to stay at?"

"Well, I was going to stay at a hotel or inn…"

"You'll stay with Naruto. Dismissed!"

"WAIT A MINUTE!!"

Too late. Naruto had already dragged the panicking Akatsuki out of Tsunade's office.

**--**

"Naruto! Please slow down!"

Shockingly enough, the hyperactive blonde listened. "What's wrong, Akiko-chan?"

Cean thought quickly. "Where's the bathroom?"

He laughed, pointing. "Down that hall. You wouldn't believe how long it took me to remember that…"

She gave him a measuring look. "Oh, I think I can imagine." Then she took off before what she said actually registered in his mind.

"HEY!!"

'_Now, I need to tell everyone what's going on. And that I'll be late…' _

**--**

_Akatsuki Base…_

Lilith casually snuck into each of the Akatsuki's rooms, tacking a note on the inside of each door so that the owners would see them. She didn't bother with Itachi's, Tobi's, Pein's, and Konan's rooms, since she had already talked to them.

Each note was different from the other.

For example, Kakuzu's read:

_Hey, Jii-chan. I have guests, so don't you DARE kill them or 'borrow' their money. Because if you do I will TAKE ALL OF YOUR MONEY AWAY FROM YOU!!_

_-Lilith_

_PS: You might want to hide your money in a safe that isn't right under your bed, or in a vault in your closet. Yes, I am amazing and no, you are not nearly as sneaky as you think you are._

The others varied only in what she threatened them with. She informed Zetsu that she would plant him in the garden and water him, again. Hidan's scythe was in grave danger of becoming kitchen cutlery. Lilith would replace Deidara's wardrobe again, only with all pink clothes. Sasori's collection of puppets—which he had worked hard to replace in the last 5 years—would soon be introduced to fire. Kisame would be chopped up into sushi and eaten for lunch, while his sword would be given to her friend Suigetsu as an early birthday present.

Now all she had to do was…

**--**

Itachi came across a strange sight when he walked into the men's bathroom. Lilith was grinning evilly and toying with Kisame's shower supplies.

Noticing his presence, Lilith held up one finger, "Shh."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Hn. I don't think I even want to know what you're up to."

Still smiling, Lilith flounced out and down the hallway, out of sight.

Itachi contemplated telling his partner that Lilith had likely altered the contents of his shampoo. He decided against it; if Kisame wasn't smart enough to check, it was his own fault.

**--**

Lilith had it all perfectly planned out.

Since Kisame's schedule was fairly consistent, she chose him as her alarm clock of the day. First of all, he would eat breakfast. Then he would train. After that, he would take a shower and have lunch. More training. Finally, he would finish up with a soak in the nearby hot springs.

Oh so predictable.

With that last little thing settled, Lilith plopped down on the couch in the base's living room and fell asleep almost instantly.

**--**

Sakura, Ino, and Hinata had a rather…interesting…wake-up call at midday.

"**GODDAMMIT LILITH!! I AM GOING TO DROWN YOU!!**"

The three poked their heads out the bedroom door just in time to see a _purple_ Kisame run by with nothing but a towel on. They blinked in shock, while Tobi happily skipped up to them.

"Lilith told Tobi to come get you guys for lunch, since Kisame-senpai is busy trying to kill her."

"Then, Tobi is a good boy," Sakura said absentmindedly. Tobi cheered. "But," she continued, "Tobi will be an even better boy if Tobi tells us what Lilith just did."

"Oh, Demon-chan put red dye in Kisame-senpai's body wash and shampoo, since he normally takes a shower around this time of day. Ready to go?"

They nodded dumbly, following the too-damn-happy Tobi down the hallway towards where the food was.

**--**

**Kisame's pissed. But he's turned such a lovely shade of lavender…not for the first time, either. Find out later…**

**Isn't it cute how Itachi cares enough not to tattle on Lilith?**

**Oh, Cean and Naruto's relationship, that's what I was going to talk about here. No romantic interest at all. Cean considers him a little brother, if anything. Thought I'd make that clear. She'll look out for him and keep an eye on him.**

**Review! AND PLAY MY GAME WITH ME PLEASE!!**

**Torturing Kasumi is fun! More of that coming up in a couple of chapters! Is it wrong to love to cause your own OC problems? And torture them on a regular basis?**


	19. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own the Demon of Silence!! And the answers to my game! I also own the ending to the story! (The story, too.)**

**Alright then! The vote is closed! The pairings are as follows:**

**ItaLilith**

**InoDei**

**TobiSaku**

**NaruHina**

**Thanks to everyone who voted!**

**I'll be interested to hear your theories…**

**Almost 50 reviews! I'm so happy!**

--

…_**Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win—Stephan King**_

--

Once she had successfully locked herself in the girl's bathroom, Cean drew out a shrunken scroll from a pocket. Making a couple of hand signs, the Wind Scroll returned back to its normal size. Whipping out a pen from yet another one of those pockets, she hastily scribbled a letter addressed to Pein, Konan, and Lilith. She didn't write Madara's name, as a precaution. If her sister-in-law really had made an escape with the three missing Leaf nin, they might see and wonder about Madara.

Couldn't have that; said man would probably seek even more excuses to make her life miserable. Even though he did do a pretty good job of it by just existing.

_Hey Lilith, Pein, and Konan,_

_It might be a little longer before I'm able to return. Complications and distractions arose, so I had to double-back to Konoha. Those nin-dogs are rather talented._

_Don't worry, I won't take too long. Just a couple of days before I can leave without arousing too much suspicion._

_I seem to have acquired a student, quite by accident. Can I keep him? Please? I promise to feed him…_

_I'll write a report on this scroll later, when I have more time._

_-Cean_

_PS: Anyone want any souvenirs while I'm held up?_

She watched the writing sink into the scroll and disappear completely. Lilith should understand the hidden meaning behind the post script. Now all that was left to do was face the rest of the day with the hyperactive Naruto. It was almost noon, and she had no doubt as to where their first stop would be.

Wonderful. Just. Fucking. Wonderful.

--

Somewhere nearby, a demon's messenger watched everything unfold—both in Konoha and at the Akatsuki base. Its orders were clear.

Observe. Report. Give them just enough rope to hang themselves with.

_--_

_Akatsuki Base…_

To the girls' surprise, the only ones at the huge table were Itachi and Deidara. Taking one look at all of the food spread out in front of them, though, made them gape and drool.

"Who made all of this?" Ino asked her look-alike, sitting next to him.

"Normally," he chastised her, "it's polite to introduce yourself first, un." He shot her an annoyed look, obviously not happy that they had similar hair styles.

"Well, sorry," Ino hissed, narrowing her eyes. "Yamanaka Ino. And you?"

"Deidara, yeah. And to answer your earlier question, Itachi-san made the food, yeah." The girls all stared at him. "What, un?" Then he frowned deeply. "Pinky, yeah. I think that I've seen you before, yeah…"

Sakura gulped, but didn't have to answer as Tobi did it for her. "She killed Sasori-senpai!" He sounded proud, to everyone else's amusement.

The pink-haired medic nin slapped her forehead. **'Way to go, Tobi,'** her inner remarked dryly. **'Tell him that we killed his comrade. Wasn't he partners with Sasori?' **Sakura thought she remembered him from when helped with the rescue for Gaara.

Speaking of Sasori, where was he?

Actually, where were the rest of the people?

"Um…not to sound rude, but aren't there supposed to be more people here?"

Deidara's glare lessened a bit, seeing that the girl meant no harm and was aware of just what she had done to piss him off. "Leader-sama and Konan-san are doing paperwork, I think, un. Kakuzu's hiding his money, because Lilith seems to have found out where he hid it, yeah. The others are probably chewing her out for threatening them in notes taped to our doors, un."

"Why aren't you?" Ino asked, peering at the other blonde.

"I'm more interested in what Itachi-san cooked for lunch than having my words go in one ear and out the other, yeah." He paused. "By the way, yeah," he remarked, turning to face Ino. "Where do you get off stealing my hairstyle, un?!"

Ino fixated her meanest glare at the pyromaniac. "What do you mean, I stole it?! You obviously stole _my _look!" The two started to bicker.

"They…certainly hit it off…well," Hinata observed. Sakura nodded. "Let's just hope…it doesn't get out of hand…" Unfortunately, the two headstrong blondes decided that now would be a good time to disprove that statement with a miniature food fight.

Sneaking a peek at the cause of the Uchiha massacre, Sakura noticed that he did not look pleased that the food was going to waste. Seeing the pink haired girl watching him, he glared back.

Tobi chose to—unknowingly—rescue her by squealing, "Tobi is finished! Thank you Itachi-san for the food!"

"Hn." The sharingan master turned back to his own plate.

Staring at Tobi, Sakura voiced the first question on her mind. "Tobi, did you even take off you mask to eat?"

He cocked his head at her. "Of course not, Sakura-chan. That would defeat the purpose of wearing it in the first place."

"Then how in the world did you eat?!" Indeed, Tobi's mask was actually pristine, with no hint of any food having gotten on it at all.

"Tobi is amazing!" he chirped happily.

Sakura could picture him giving her the same happy eye expression that Kakashi did. Weird. "Really? On top of being a good boy?" she teased. "Must be difficult."

"But Tobi can do it! Tobi is just that talented!" She couldn't help it, she laughed good-naturedly at his silly antics. Just how old was he? He acted so much like a little kid.

While Sakura started to chat with Tobi, Hinata had never taken her eyes off of the fighting Deidara and Ino. They had moved beyond the food fight, and had settled for pulling each others' hair. What they were arguing about had changed as well.

"What's up with the stupid cloak?! Do you have any idea of how absolutely tacky it is?"

"No choice in the matter, un! Leader-sama forces us to wear it, yeah! And you will too, un!"

"It's still horrid!"

"So, un?! What about you, un?! Who in their right mind would wear _that _outfit, yeah?!"

It was rather entertaining.

Still, Hinata felt a little lonely and left out. Turning her attention to her empty plate, she started to hesitantly put some on.

Sakura noticed her hesitation and chuckled. "Don't worry, it's surprisingly good!" She had already tried some.

From across the table Itachi glared. "Hn."

Sakura held up her hands in front of herself in a warding gesture. "No, no I didn't mean it like that, I swear! I was on a team with your little brother and he can't cook at all."

"Hn." He stood up and walked away, apparently done.

Hinata smiled lightly at her friend's comment about the food. She had _meant _to be helpful. "Open mouth, insert foot," the former heiress teased the pinkette, who was steadily turning red from embarrassment.

--

Lilith had stopped paying attention to the lecture from Kisame a long time ago. Same with the other talking-to's that the rest of them gave her. She didn't particularly care about wounded pride; the safety of her new friends was the priority.

Her attention was drawn by the welcome arrival of Itachi. "Hey, Itachi!" She waved happily.

"Hn. Your guests are almost finished eating."

She lit up. "Okay, thanks!" Bolting out of the room, she left her lecturers behind.

Everyone—with the exception of Itachi who also left—gaped. How was it that she was able to escape so easily every time they tried to drill some sense into her?! As long as she had been with the Akatsuki, the only person she had ever listened to without question was Itachi.

And they were pretty sure that had something to do with him washing out her mouth with soap when she was younger.

--

**Yeah, okay, sorry I ended it there. Interaction between Lilith and Itachi is scarce for now, but it will get better once the girls are out of Lilith's hands. Cean's having troubles of her own over in Konoha. The Demon of Silence is making its move soon…**

**FIGHT SCENE IN A CHAPTER OR TWO!**

**Oh, if you guys have the time you should check out my new avatar on my profile! I found a picture of a girl who looks remarkably like the image in my mind I have of Cean…**

**With these characters, I think that the romance is going to be hard to write. This story is going to end up much longer than I originally thought.**

**Please review! My finals are over, so the more reviews I get, the greater the inspiration I have to write! Which means faster updates!**


	20. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, do you really think that I'd write fanfictions about it? …on second thought, don't answer that…I probably would…**

**Hello everybody! Thanks for the reviews! I need your help with something, though. For the major fight scene, I'm not sure if I should give the English versions of the jutsus, or the Japanese versions with a helpful translation in parenthesis. What do you guys think? Since you're the ones who have to read it anyway…**

**Yay, more than 50 reviews! (starts dancing)**

**--**

_**I know indeed what evil I intend to do, **_

_**But stronger than all my afterthoughts is my fury, **_

_**Fury that brings upon mortals the greatest evils.**_

—_**Euripides**_

--

_Konoha…_

"Um…Tsunade-sama?" the Hokage's assistant ventured quietly, once everyone else had been dismissed from the office.

"Yes, Shizune?"

"You aren't seriously going to let a total stranger train Naruto, are you? How can we trust her?" Ton-ton gave an oink of agreement.

Tsunade sighed, putting down the sake bottle. "The thing is, I _don't _trust her. I can't. I could never completely turn my back to someone who walks with that much predatory grace. From the moment she walked in, my instincts were screaming that there was danger." She shuddered violently. "While I was questioning her, I got the sensation that my very heart was grasped by something unspeakably icy. I felt like I was being eaten alive..."

Shizune shivered a little. "I felt that too, but I thought it was just me."

"I don't think that anyone else noticed either." The Hokage shook her head morosely. "No, it could have been one of two things. As medic nin, we are—to some degree—empaths. We sense what those around us are feeling. That ice might have been either our own fear amplified, or someone else's in the room."

The black haired woman eyed her tired teacher. "But you don't think that's it."

"No, no I don't. But I pray it was. Because the alternative is just too terrifying."

--

_Akatsuki Base…_

"Hey, guys!" Lilith declared, entering the dining room with the same dignity and drama as a prince wearing a full cape. "Almost done?"

Having finished up mere moments before, they nodded.

"Alright, then! This way, this way!" she sang happily, ushering them out as quickly as possible.

Unsure as to what the rush was for, they followed the strange Akatsuki out of the room, down the hallways. Tobi, for some reason, decided to tag along. When they came to Lilith's bedroom, they went inside and sat on the bed, waiting for their friend to explain herself.

Shutting the door carefully behind her, she faced the others with a small frown. "I'm sorry, but I needed to get Sakura out of there. I don't know how Sasori will react once he finds out you are here, so I want to do it when you are safe. This actually goes for all of you. For your first couple of weeks here, I want to guys to always be in the presence of either myself, Tobi, Pein, Konan, or Itachi. Am I clear?"

The girls were confused. The others, they could understand. But—Itachi?

Noticing their hesitation, Lilith answered the question on their minds. "Itachi won't hurt you. He knows better than to cross me and the leader. He will behave, since he has remarkable self-control. The rest of the Akatsuki is a different story."

They nodded their understanding. Then, when Lilith kept staring at them, they realized that she couldn't see it and voiced their assent instead.

"Good! Now, Hinata-chan, can you pass me the Yang scroll? I think there is a new message on it." The former heiress did as she asked. "Thanks."

Unfurling the silver scroll, she gently ran her fingers over it. "Yup, Cean wrote a new letter. She asked if we needed souvenirs from Konoha." The girls' minds immediately went straight to a horrible mental image of dead family and friends, for some reason.

"She means to ask two things by that. One is for me, the other for you three. Is there anything that you left behind in Konoha that you want back?"

Oh. That made more sense.

Lilith laughed lightly as they gave her their requests. Mostly small things that they had forgotten or hadn't wanted to lose, such as their Team Photos. The purple-haired Akatsuki member dutifully wrote it all down, while thinking of what she wanted stolen.

Deciding to procrastinate, she merely wrote a note at the bottom saying that she was still thinking, and would write what she wanted later on that day. Maybe after supper.

Rolling it up, she turned her gaze to her temporary students. Cean wasn't the only one who would have her hands full. In her mind, she had already worked out a schedule for the next couple of weeks…

"Alright, then! I'm going to get straight to the point. How are your chakra reserves right now?"

--

_Konoha…_

Cean wanted to do something drastic. Anything would do, really, just so long as it would make this kid SHUT THE HELL UP. She didn't particularly care that he had tried over 50 types of ramen. Or what they were called and she really started to zone out when Naruto decided to describe each and every one of them to her.

They were back at Ichiraku, of course. The old man and his daughter Ayame consistently sent her sympathetic looks every time Naruto accidently shouted too loudly in the Akatsuki's ear.

Letting her mind wander, she tried to think about what she was going to do that night. Steal scrolls, or go after the Hyuuga Elders? It didn't matter which one she went after, because the other would have heightened security the next night. And she intended on getting some sleep, later.

She chose to get the scrolls the next night, since they would be easier to procure even with the extra guards and wards. The Hyuugas for tonight, then.

Now came a whole new headache. Cean had a sneaking suspicion that Tsunade was going to ask her to fight in order to determine her capabilities. What could she kill the Elders with that she wouldn't use in without thinking about it?

Choosing with care, eventually death seals were the only thing left. While she did use seals in combat, they were never placed on a living person, and were very different from the ones engineered specifically towards death.

Which one? Something small, that won't be readily noticeable by either the recipient or those they interact with. That narrowed it down a bit. Next was whether she wanted their deaths to be long and painful, or relatively short and merciful.

Feeling sadistic, she chose the longest, most painful death seal. The effects were random, which was the best part. It was easy to activate, as well. A single word or phrase would do the trick. How about…Hinata? Considering that they had kicked her out of the clan (Naruto had told her) it was strangely appropriate.

And something that was sure to be mentioned at some point or another. She was taking a considerable risk, due to the fact that the Elders could all fall mysteriously "ill" at the same time, or one at a time like she wanted. Oh, well. She was just going to have to risk it.

--

**Is it getting suspenseful, yet?**

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: While I do try to follow the manga as closely as possible, here is where it and I must go in separate directions. I will include more elements from it, but others will be ignored. Sorry.**

**I forgot what I was going to say, again…**

**Review, please!**


	21. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, because if I did, I would have dressed Orochimaru in drag a **_**long **_**time ago. Or at least have bought him better shampoo and conditioner so that his hair wouldn't look so greasy.**

**What's up with this? Three reviews for a chapter with over 50 hits? What? What?**

**I think I overdid it with the evilness in the last chapter. What Shizune and Tsunade were feeling was an emotion that SOMEONE in the room was broadcasting. What emotion is icier than fear? Hee hee, tell me if you figure it out!**

…**I think I abandoned the humor in favour of plot development…**

**I would personally love to know who said the quote below.**

**--**

_**Quis hic locus?**_

_**Quae regio?**_

_**Quae mundi plaga?**_

_**(Translation)**_

"_**What world is this?**_

_**What kingdom?**_

_**What shores of what worlds?"**_

_**--**_

Lilith led the girls and Tobi through the hallways of the base, getting the kunoichi thoroughly lost again. They really wouldn't be able to navigate this place without someone's help.

They had a sneaking suspicion that Lilith was doing that on purpose, too. Just for laughs.

Suddenly, the corridor that they were in ended. A rather solid-looking wooden door with a large padlock stood in their way. After Lilith carelessly brushed a hand against it, it unlocked and fell to the floor with a heavy thump. The girls came to the conclusion that it was a chakra-activated lock.

Undoing the chain revealed a hidden doorknob. Turning it, Lilith led the way into the large, dark room beyond. Relocking the door from the current side, she flicked a switch, illuminating the new space from several unseen sources.

It was freaking huge! Seemingly large enough to fit their old training grounds comfortably, it was strewn with boulders large and small. Some of them were the same colour as the walls, but others were obviously taken from somewhere else.

Lilith carefully messed with a small machine in a corner while the other girls gaped soundlessly. Tobi, having seen the place before, just watched the others' reactions. He thought that they were kind of funny.

"Tobi thinks that a fly will fly into your mouths if they stay open like that!" he chirped, a smile hidden by his mask.

Closing their jaws with audible snaps, Sakura and Ino glared at him while Hinata looked on nervously.

"What?" he asked, slightly confused. "What did Tobi do wrong?"

Shaking their heads at him, they all turned to Lilith, waiting for her to explain.

Grinning, she gestured broadly at her surroundings. "This is my personal training room! Since I don't use it often, it's in near perfect condition. Plus, no one is allowed to disturb us once we are inside, unless I let them in!"

Then her smile turned distinctly evil and everyone, including Tobi, got a very bad feeling…

"Also, it's soundproof! So no one can hear your screams! Welcome to your Training from Hell!"

--

_Konoha…_

Cean, having finished plotting, had returned to watching Naruto as he talked about ramen. It wasn't so much that she was interested in the topic, but how animated he was when he was describing something important to him. He seemed to use his hands and arms to demonstrate his points quite often. She had to be careful in order to not accidently get smacked upside the head.

Allowing a small smile onto her face, she reflected on what she knew about the kid. She hadn't lied in her first report. She found him absolutely fascinating—not to mention amazing, as well. His positive outlook in life was something that she didn't encounter nearly often enough.

It was refreshing.

Winding down his speech, Naruto realized that he might have bored his new friend. After all, didn't everyone else usually tell him to shut up? And that he was being annoying? A sheepish smile appeared on his face, and he rubbed the back of his head in an apologetic manner.

Cean raised an eyebrow at this. His nervous chuckle was sort of creeping her out.

Although she doubted that anything could be worse than the green spandex-clad duo that she had met earlier.

"I'm really sorry for babbling on and on, and probably annoying you," Naruto apologized, as sincere as he could possibly be. "I bet that you don't care all that much about ramen…"

The older woman's eyes softened a little. "You're right; I don't really care about ramen other than in the context of it being my meal." The blonde boy looked downcast. "But," she continued, propping her head up using an elbow, and placing her cheek in her hand, "don't get me wrong."

Naruto looked up, bristling with curiosity.

"I think that it's rather admirable that you have something you love so much that you can talk about for such a long time. I can tell that it's something you're really passionate about. If it brings you joy, then I personally have no problem with listening to you." She smiled genuinely at him. "We're friends, right?"

He grinned brightly at her. "Yup!"

She felt truly blessed by meeting this person. She didn't understand why, though. Something in her just reached out to the kid, like a mother protecting her child.

However, he didn't seem aware of the effect that his easy friendship had on her. It was like he was trying to share a little of his sunshine with the dark monster she—and others—considered herself to be. Was it truly possible to be this nice to everyone?

Watching as he greeted other people as they walked by, it was obvious to her that the answer was most definitely yes. Even his enemies would be granted this very favour. He likely didn't realize the effect he had on other people in general.

"I admire you."

Naruto blinked and turned around, staring at Cean like she was an alien being. A remark like that—especially so out-of-the-blue—was shocking to him. Someone, who was likely much stronger and wiser than himself, admired him?

She chuckled. "Your attitude. I've met a couple of jinchuuriki before, and none of them were nearly as strong of mind and disposition as you. Your outlook on life is so different from my own, even. You are a shinobi, you see death regularly. It is your job to be delivers of death in this world. Such a bright person becomes strange to encounter."

Naruto was still befuddled. How could this stranger say something like that so matter-of-factly? And, if he had judged her correctly, she meant every word of it? So strange…

Suddenly jolting out of his stupor, he realized something important. He needed to get to the training grounds soon! "Ahh! I forgot! I need to train with Kakashi-sensei right now!" Quickly throwing some money on the counter, he grabbed Cean's hand and started to drag her away.

"Come on, Akiko-chan! Join me! It'll be fun, I promise!"

Hiding a smile, she let herself be pulled away.

--

**Sorry this chapter took so long for me to get out! A lot had to be tweaked from its original version. Plus, my parents dragged me and my younger sister off to Las Vegas for four days. I had fun, though. And I got to write some for my other stories as well.**

**Review, please! I need them in order to give fast updates! Especially since I effectively killed my summer, since I have to work and willingly signed up to work in a Renaissance Faire as well.**

**Yeah, I'm screwed…**


	22. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I recently cleaned out my dresser drawers with my family, and discovered that I don't even own most of my clothes. They all belong to my friends, mother, sister, stepfather, and my cousins. What makes you think that I own Naruto? If I did, then I'd have the money for my own clothes…not that you could actually force me to go shopping for them…**

**Sorry for the late update! Had trouble deciding on the theme for this chapter (that and the quote was hard to choose). I am kept very busy at work, too. I think that it's the only place where the job description for Accounting Clerk includes setting up bookshelves. Which I HAVE been doing a lot of.**

**I hate paperwork. Really, I do. Unfortunately, construction companies have a lot of it. We go through at least two reams of paper a day. Sometime four or five on payroll days. A ream of paper is five hundred sheets.**

**I really, really hate paperwork. I haven't even had any time to read any other fanfiction (my usual reason for procrastinating)!**

**Special thanks to everybody who pestered me into finishing this chapter.**

**Here's a long chapter to make up for my absence! Onto the story!**

**--**

_**The beast exists because it is stronger than the thing that you call evolution. In it is some force of life, a demon, driving it through millions of centuries. It does not surrender so easily to weaklings like you and me—Martin Berkeley**_

**--**

_Konoha…_

"Where's your teacher? We've been waiting for ten minutes already." Cean looked at Naruto, who had just finished his stretching.

The blonde boy shrugged, taking out some kunai and shuriken. "He's always late. Want to help me with my target practice?" he asked, giving her the fox-like grin that he was famous for.

"Sure, as long as I'm not the target."

Naruto stared at her for a minute. "You can go sit down, or something then."

Cean shot him an exasperated look. Spying a log nearby, she did as he suggested. For a while, she just watched. Soon, though, she began to develop a visible tick in her left eye.

"Why in Hell's name are you missing a _stationary target_?! And, for that matter, why are you even using a stationary target?! Aren't you a jounin?!"

He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, I'm a chuunin, so…"

Cean didn't say anything, and just stared. And stared. And stared. Finally, she snapped.

"YOU DUMBASS!" She threw a kunai at him, the handle hitting the middle of his forehead and knocking him over. "HOW CAN YOU JOIN ANBU IF YOU'RE ONLY A FREAKING CHUUNIN?! TAKE THE DAMN JOUNIN TEST BEFORE BOTHERING ME!!"

Naruto held his aching head. What the hell had just happened? Why had she become so violent so quickly?! "But, Akiko-chan!" he whined. "That's why you're going to teach me!"

She stared at him again for a moment, before she started throwing more things. "DOES THAT MEAN THAT I'LL BE LUGGING YOU AROUND FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS?!"

"Owie!" He started dodging like his life depended on it—then again it did, considering some of the things that she was throwing. Where the hell did she pull that Fuuma Shuriken out of?!

Sai, finally deciding to join the party, watched the one-sided "fight" with interest. Was this a new training regimen? If so, Naruto's speed and dodging skills were definitely improving. After all, sparring _was_ the best way to test someone else's skills.

Sitting down on the recently vacated log, he pulled out his infamous sketchbook. He was _not_ stupid enough to get in the middle of _that_. Naruto had started to fight back, and they reminded him of little children that he had seen in the market place. Really, they acted like siblings fighting over the last piece of candy.

No, he wasn't that stupid.

This continued for hours, but Kakashi never did show up.

--

_Akatsuki Base…_

The girls did their stretches, while trying to keep an eye on whatever it was that Lilith was up to. Out of the corners of their eyes, they swore they saw the air in the middle of the large room waver. It gave them a headache if they paid attention to it, though.

Meanwhile, Tobi was dancing around, unable to sit still for any decent length of time. All of a sudden, he just plopped onto the ground and started to arrange the pebbles and rocks he found.

"Tobi?" Sakura inquired, peering at his little rock pile. "What are you doing?"

"Tobi is bored! So Tobi is making rock sculpture, just like Deidara's clay!" He clapped his hands together happily. "Only, Tobi has no idea what he is making…"

The girls laughed.

"Hey, Tobi? Can I ask you a question?"

"Sakura-chan just did! But, Sakura-chan can ask another. Tobi is just that generous!"

Somewhere in the background, the girls could hear Lilith coughing, trying to cover up her own laughter. Not that she succeeded…

Sakura couldn't help but smile fondly at the hyperactive 'good boy.' She could already tell that she was developing a soft spot for him. Although she still wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. "The people at the other bases, what are they like?"

Tobi paused for a moment, thinking about the question. Cocking his head to the side, he replied, "Tobi thinks that Kasumi is too serious, and needs to lighten up. Though Tobi thinks that her sense of revenge is evil, and funny! The last one was really funny!"

"What…did…she do?" Ino asked carefully, as she was fully aware that anything that Tobi thought was funny was probably really bad.

"Tobi not allowed to say!" he chirped. "Or Deidara-senpai will chase Tobi with exploding birdies and try to stuff them down Tobi's throat!"

'_Why in the world is he so cheerful about that?' _the girls all wondered, staring at him.

"Tobi gets along with Hn-chan! She gives Tobi treats!"

'…_What is he to her? A pet?'_

He paused, looking thoughtful (shocker). "Airhead is hyper, like Tobi. But, Tobi is not sure what to think about Datenshi. Tobi thinks that she likes to make already bad situations worse. Oh!" He hit his fist on his palm. "Datenshi is accident-prone! Tobi just remembered!" He sounded very proud of himself.

"How could you forget that?" Lilith asked, staring over at him. "It's kind of hard to forget."

He shrugged.

"What about…what's-her-name that we talked about last night?" Ino asked.

Lilith glanced at them. "Cean?" The girls all nodded. "Oh." Lilith pursed her lips, thinking. "Well, she's usually really ultra polite to everyone, and really kind. Sometimes, the things she says bite, but she really is the kindest, politest person that I've ever met."

--

_Meanwhile…_

"Ow! What the hell?! You bit me!"

"Did not, fox-boy! Besides, you were the one who bit me!"

--

"Then again," Lilith mused, "she _does_ lose the politeness when she feels relaxed and comfortable. Still, even then it's hard to tell what will make her snap. Just, when she does, keep a clear distance…"

The girls nodded again, resolving to walk on eggshells in the woman's presence when they finally did meet her. And Lilith went back to whatever-the-hell she was doing in the first place.

--

_A little later..._

"Um…Lilith-chan?" Hinata ventured quietly.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering…why is it that you seem to…" She paused for a second. "…Shut people out? I've been noticing it since we met you. You don't seem to want…anyone to get to close…like…with your blindfold." Lilith stopped what she was doing and turned around to face her charges. However, when she didn't say anything to this, Hinata continued, "Is that why…you don't have a partner? Since…the Akatsuki work in pairs…"

Lilith just stood there silently for a minute. Then, the corner of her mouth quirked upwards and she gave a small sigh through her nose. "What in the world gives you that impression, Hinata-chan?"

Now it was the timid girl's turn to be silent. "I think…it was the way the others here talked about you." Lilith raised an eyebrow at this. "No! I mean…" Hinata looked at a loss for words. "I mean…it was also the way you talked about them, too. Am…I…making any sense?"

'_Not really,'_ Lilith thought, sighing through her nose again. Only this time, it was in defeat.

"I closed my heart up for pretty much the same reason that everyone else here in this organization—no, the whole world—does. Everyone in this world lives under some kind of a dark cloud, I think. Humans are generally unhappy creatures." Throughout the small speech, the girls and Tobi couldn't help but notice just how awkward Lilith's body language was. She was really uncomfortable.

She gave them a mischievous grin. "If you think my way of thinking is sad, wait until you hear Cean's view on the world. It's enough to make you want to huddle in an isolated corner while you choke and sputter on your despair. It's pretty bad."

"But," Sakura pointed out with a sad smile, "you're still avoiding the question."

Lilith was quiet again. "I shut myself out for the exact same reason _everyone _does. Everyone you know has a barrier guarding against their greatest fear. I don't want those around me—my precious people—to become part of the collateral damage surrounding me. Especially on this damn roller coaster ride we call life, love, and emotions in general…" She paused. "Fortunately for him, the ride operator is nowhere in sight—or else I'd probably shoot him in the head."

With that, she turned her back on them, and returned to playing with her little machine in the corner.

--

_A few minutes later…_

"Are you almost done with that weird box, Demon-chan?"

"No. Quit distracting me, dammit."

--

_One minute later…_

"…How about now?"

"NO!"

--

_**Twenty-one years ago…**_

"_The sealing is complete! Take her Tsunade, and run as fast as you can! Here they come!" A bundle was thrust into her arms just as the trees next to her suddenly bloomed with fire._

_Heeding her friend's order, a younger Tsunade did so, cursing Kumogakure to the depths of Hell. They deserved it, for what they were planning on. This child was not a weapon!_

_Rushing headlong through the trees, the Sannin paid little attention to where she was going, just as long as it was __**out.**_

_She stole a look at the girl-child sleeping peacefully in her arms, blissfully unaware of the world around her. No, she would never let her fall into the greedy Raikage's grasping hands! Pumping the last of her dwindling chakra into her feet, she sped up to escape the equally as greedy flames._

_Ignoring the screams of people she could not see through the fires, she glanced towards the horizon. Twilight was approaching fast. She had to get out of the forest._

_All of a sudden, the trees directly in front of her exploded in an impossibly fast-spreading inferno. Stomping her foot, the ground split and the wood crumbled into the fissure. Tsunade couldn't hold that up for too long, though. It decreased her speed and chakra, neither of which she could afford to lose at this point._

_However, the only other option was to be herded like a sheep, right into the waiting jaws of the wolf._

_She couldn't keep this up much longer; she had used too much to help subdue that demon. Whose new container was beginning to stir in her arms._

"_No, no please be quiet," Tsunade whispered to the infant. "If you cry here, we'll both be caught." She wasn't sure if it was the demon that heard her, or the child, but she didn't really care._

_Suddenly, she thought she saw a break in the undergrowth ahead to her right. Taking a chance, she dashed for it, spraying dirt onto the flames that blocked her way._

_She stopped in her tracks once she saw what was before her. A frozen lake in the middle of summer. Despite this oddity, Tsunade felt despair well up inside of her. With almost no chakra left, she would be a sitting duck if she crossed that water. Besides, who knew how thick the ice was? Especially with those eerie flames dancing over it…_

_Wait. Flames?_

_Tsunade couldn't help taking an involuntary step back as she watched the black flames slowly make their way around the lake. She jumped when a nearby flame crawled onto the shore to attack the forest as well. Soon, though, the normal fires were snuffed out by the progression of the black._

_Staring in a mix of horror and fascination, she couldn't help shivering at the sight of what the new flames were doing._

_Freezing the forest. Even the normal fires that had formally blazed were frozen in mid-flicker. It was beautiful, in its eerie way. This time, she shivered due to the extreme cold emanating around her. Still, though, that wasn't the creepiest part._

_It was all done in complete silence. The black flames made no sound whatsoever. It made the hairs on the back of Tsunade's neck rise. There was definitely something wrong, here. The only jutsu she knew of that had black flames was Amaterasu. And those were unbearably hot._

_These were so cold that they made her very bones ache. She also thought that Amaterasu's flames were just plain old black. Unlike those, these felt infused with the essences of darkness and hatred. She knew of no other emotion so cold._

_She bundled up the infant in her arms tighter, her breath fogging in the suddenly cold air. For some reason, the flames had neither touched her nor had any effect whatsoever on the little girl, who was still sleeping._

_Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something move._

_Whirling around, she found herself face-to-face with a monster that had just crawled out from her worst nightmare, and from the pages of an old myth that she barely remembered._

_--_

_Present day, Konoha…_

Tsunade's head suddenly snapped up, sending sake bottles and pieces of paper flying.

"Oh, I see that you've finally woken up from your sake-induced slumber," Shizune muttered, already cleaning up the mess.

The Hokage ignored her, staring fearfully into thin air. That monster was here, in Konoha, her home.

"_**I grant wishes…but only for a price…"**_

The Demon of Silence was back. The iciness that she had felt earlier couldn't have been anything else. It had remained unchanged after all these years.

"Shizune."

"_**My flames protected you from the others, but they will come back once I leave this place…"**_

The serious tone in Tsunade's voice made the black-haired woman look up and give her immediate attention. "Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"That ice. That hatred we felt. I just remembered where I've felt that before. There is no way that Yamashi could have produced it. No human could. Call Kakashi and Shikamaru. There are things we need to discuss."

"_**Hurry up and decide. My time grows short here…"**_

--

**Whew, done!** **At last! I might actually make the next couple of chapters this long, too.**

**Now, you must review! Why? Because I have told Lee and Gai that performing a strip-tease for non-reviewers is very youthful.**

**So review.**


	23. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: Now, before I own Naruto, I must seize control of and make it so that the Naruto character options have one labeled 'OC.' Just like the ones the Harry Potter section have. Unfortunately, this has not happened yet, so I must put my plans to own Naruto on hold for a while…**

**Hiya, everyone! Thanks for all of your kind support! I really appreciate it. Really. Especially since I was slow with updating! Thanks again.**

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_**Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so—Douglas Adams**_

**--**

_Once, a long, long time ago…the Weaver and the Demon of Silence played chess together._

"_Why are we doing this, Weaver? Can't we play…I don't know…shoji, or something? I know that game. This one is weird."_

_The Weaver smiled ambiguously. "Really, now? I wouldn't call it weird."_

"_Hah. Are we even talking about the same thing?" the Demon snorted._

"_Probably not."_

_While its opponent moved the next piece, the Demon gazed down at the world beneath their feet. "What do we do? We can't even…we can't even protect them. What right do we have to use them as our pawns, instead?" It gave a sad laugh. "Look, see how they scurry around? Not even realizing…"_

_Closing its eyes, the Weaver grimaced. "What choice do we have? I want to live, personally. I'm sure you do, too." The Demon moved a pawn, knocking down a rook. A kingdom crumbled in silence. "Now, what did you do that for? That wasn't nice."_

"_Sorry, but I want to live, too," it mocked. It watched as the Weaver debated the next move. "Also, a wish had to be granted."_

"_Did you really have to kill all those people?"_

"_Yes. And we're not talking about the same thing again."_

"_It comes from playing this for so long. How long has it been since we started?"_

"_Since we started using the world as our board and its people as our playing pieces? Almost 10,000 years, now." It glanced down at all of the fragile lives. "You…me…we are weak, Weaver."_

"_We're a mess," the spirit agreed. It looked at the board. "Sheesh, you've really got me pinned here."_

"_Well, you aren't trying very hard."_

"_That's because your side is in the right while I am in the wrong."_

"_Feh. Don't kid yourself. There is no such thing as 'good' and 'evil' and frankly, I'm shocked that you use such human concepts." The Demon shrugged. "Besides, we're not exactly playing by the standard rules. In this game of war, there are no rules."_

"_Come to think of it," the Weaver remarked, "we haven't even touched our queens, yet."_

"_Well, let's fix that then…"_

--

Lilith jumped up straight in the air, surprising the others. "OW! WHAT THE HELL?!" she shouted at the machine, holding her arm. "FRICKIN' BURNED ME!" She glared at it for a second, and then kicked it fiercely. It immediately roared to life—with a gasping wheeze and a puff of black smog.

The girls and Tobi stared at it while Lilith hopped around on one foot, holding the other and spitting out incoherent curses. "Stupid piece of…" was all that they could make out.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them groaned and started to shake slightly. Everyone—except for Lilith, who seemed to be not only unaffected, but was still trying to kill the machine—fought to keep their balance on the unstable ground.

When the floor beneath them stopped moving, the girls looked around curiously at the space around them. The already large room was now much bigger, by at least _three times._

"Luckily," Lilith started to explain, anticipating questions, "we were able to salvage this machinery out of some sunken ruins just north of Kirigakure. Cean was able to tell us how to repair it, having seen something like it once or twice before." She paused for a moment, letting that sink in. "In any case, was it did was move some things around in here (like the walls) to make more space—even though that wasn't its original purpose as far as we can tell."

"It's old enough to give Demon-chan problems!" Tobi piped up, despite the fact that it was older than Madara as well—about 1,000 years older.

Sakura walked up to the wheezing, black…box…thing…to take a closer look at it. "How did Cean even know about the ruins?"

Lilith shrugged, noncommittally, although the question had plagued her mind for a long time. "Maybe she heard a legend about it somewhere. She _is_ rather old, after all."

_Old enough to have known Madara in his youth, and to have not aged a day in the hundred years since._

But she would keep that thought to herself.

"My guess is that she's—at the most—300. Judging by her gripes about Yoake." Then she clapped her hands, grinning broadly. "Well, now we have enough room to go as ape-shit as we want!"

The girls groaned, dreading the outcome.

Lilith just gave them a sweet smile. "Now," she held up three fingers, "there are three subterfuges in this room. Each one has to do with ninjutsu, genjutsu, or taijutsu. One for each discipline, and one for each of you to figure out and use to your advantage. I will only utilize one per person, so you don't have to worry about that."

"What if we don't figure them out?" Ino asked suspiciously.

The purple-haired Akatsuki shrugged. "I suppose then you aren't fit to join permanently. They're not too difficult, but you won't be able to even scratch me it you can't."

"Can we pump Tobi for information?" Sakura asked sarcastically.

Lilith chuckled. "Um…no. Besides, he'll be busy making sure that the machine keeps running. Meaning, we don't accidently destroy it in our sparring." She cocked her head to one side. "So, who wants to go first?"

The three gave each other nervous glances, before Sakura faced Lilith and said, "I'll do it, and get it done with."

"Good mentality." With that, Lilith rushed her, bowling Sakura over.

The pinkette landed hard on her back, and she heard the air whoosh out of her lungs. Concentrating her chakra, she quickly refilled her lungs and rolled to one side, narrowly missing the blade of a katana that imbedded itself in the ground where her head had been.

Lilith was definitely not holding back.

Dodging another strike, Sakura rolled effortlessly to her feet. Only, she found she had to quickly block since the sword was there before she was. How was Lilith able to anticipate her moves like that?

She winced a little, as the sword had left a small cut on the back of her hands. Rapidly healing it, she gathered up some raw chakra for a powerful punch.

Or, at least, she tried to. With a start, she realized that her offensive chakra wouldn't obey her call. It simply vibrated within her, sending a steady thrum throughout her body. She actually liked the way that felt, but it was still not listening to her.

Ducking instinctively, she heard the whistle of the katana cutting the air as it missed its target. Mind racing, she settled for just avoiding getting cut while she figured out what was going on. Okay, Lilith had said that there were three, one for each of the main disciplines.

The blade cut her cheek while she was only paying half attention. She needed to think faster.

'_First of all, why isn't my chakra obeying?'_ She twisted to one side and felt a small bite on her left leg. As a reflex, she sent her healing chakra into it, and it obeyed. _'Scratch that, only my offensive chakra is misbehaving. Could it be a ninjutsu?'_

Lilith pulled out a second sword, making Sakura curse her bad luck. Out of all the people she had to spar with, it was someone who could use twin-blade styles. And she didn't have much by way of defense.

Pulling out some kunai, she blocked the next strike, but was nearly impaled by the second blade. _'Think, think!'_ she berated herself. _'Can't be a ninjutsu, I would have seen her make some sort of hand signs. Taijutsu?'_ That idea was soon discarded as well, since if Lilith had meant to test the taijutsu subterfuge, she wouldn't have drawn those swords.

That left genjutsu. However, that also posed the same problem as ninjutsu. She hadn't seen Lilith make any hand signs. _'Wait!' _she thought. _'What if I was under the genjutsu from the beginning?'_

Pushing the only chakra she had available—healing—forcefully into her brain, she made a hand sign and screamed, "KAI!"

The world looked the same as it did before, but now she could feel her chakra ready for use. Quickly, she gathered some in her fist and punched at Lilith, who was still sort of out-of-it. The Akatsuki noticed at the last second and twisted, Sakura's fist only landing a glancing blow.

"Enough, that's good," she said, holding up a hand. "So, you figured it out. Don't worry; I brought the others out of the genjutsu as well. So, who's next?"

Ino closed her eyes. This was going to be more difficult than she thought. "My turn," she said firmly, resolved to handle whatever Lilith could throw at her.

--

"_Well, have you named your queen yet, Weaver? I think I've waited long enough for your answer."_

_The Weaver laughed at the Demon of Silence's impatience. "Don't worry, I even named my king!"_

"_Mind telling me, then?"_

"_Nuh-uh! You have to tell me yours, too!"_

"_Very well. Fair's fair."_

"_My queen is actually male. His name is Uzumaki Naruto. My king's name is Storm. Your turn."_

"_Fighting dirty, I see. My queen is female. Her name is Cean Elpis Asklepios. My king is Starsfire Lilith."_

"_You're hiding something again."_

"_How is that any different than you…?"_

_--_

**Okay, shorter than the last chapter. But I did manage to get some action in there amongst the intrigue! Beware!! The Weaver and the Demon of Silence are actually plotting together! Shocker.**

**Please, please tell me what you think!**

**(Dancing) I'm 18 now!!**


	24. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: Since I don't get excessive amounts of fan mail (I barely get any mail at all), and am not male, I am not the owner of Naruto.**

**Luckily, this quarter is almost over! Meaning: it's almost winter break and I'll have no homework!! Meaning more time to write! Yay!**

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_**The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth—Pierre Abelard**_

--

Cean stared at the green-clad monstrosity in front of her. How did this happen again? Oh right. She 'accidentally' set Naruto's rear end on fire. Speaking of which, he was still running around in a panic, trying to put the flames out.

She considered helping him, but decided against it. He was flapping his arms and it was just too funny-looking…

--

_**Elsewhere…**_

_The Weaver stared at the spherical game board in front of it. The Demon wasn't around, having other business to attend to at the moment. Despite this, the game could continue, since the pieces could move on their own—activated by the actual movements of the people they represented._

_Right now, the Weaver's Queen was jerking back and forth very rapidly._

"_What…the…hell…?"_

_--_

A few minutes after Cean had set Naruto on fire, she realized that she was being watched by someone other than Sai (who was still sketching something). Turning, she watched the west tree line carefully. Soon, she saw the observers.

"Hello," she called out, waving for the people to come over. It had been none other than Team Gai.

Cean had tuned out the resulting declarations of youthfulness in favour of keeping what little sanity she still possessed. Nodding along with the conversation, she soon realized that she had done something _very, very wrong._

Thus the predicament she was in now.

"When may our youthful match begin, Yamashi-san?" Lee asked…youthfully.

Somehow, she had agreed to have a match not only with Lee, but also with Tenten. Gai had been content to cheer on his youthful students, and Neji had opted out of the insanity. Smart.

Finally, Naruto's screaming and running around in the background got on Cean's nerves. "Naru-baka." She walked in his path, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Stop." She kicked his legs out from under him. "Drop." And then she proceeded to roll him around the area. "And roll."

--

_The Weaver jumped when its Queen fell over and started rolling around. It was starting to get a little freaked out._

--

Cean sighed heavily once the fire was out. He was a ninja. Why in the world did he not use a water jutsu on himself?

…Then she realized what a stupid question that was.

Returning her attention to the problem at hand, she debated whether staying in Konoha had been such a good idea. She could tell that the Hokage was suspicious of something, and Naruto had already ruined most of her plans beyond repair. Not to mention her free time was no longer going to be an issue if she had a student. Meaning, she would no longer have any.

Then again, she was well aware that the normal her would never have been bowled over so easily. Maybe she was getting soft. It _had_ been awhile since she last had a mission. Perhaps a friendly spar with these two would do some good for her. "Why do you two ANBU want to spar with me?"

Team Gai jolted in surprise. "What gives you that idea, Yamashi-san?" Neji asked coolly, keeping most of his composure.

Cean eyed him critically. "Not too many people can sneak up on me. Nor do many make that little noise when moving in the forest." She shrugged. "Besides, the dead giveaway was the way Tsunade talked with you."

Confusion marred Naruto's face. "What do you mean, Akiko-chan? She didn't talk to them any different than she usually does."

Her gaze flicked over to her new charge, before returning to the others in front of her. "No, you are correct, Naruto. But I'm also fairly certain that you're not that good at reading body language, either," she teased.

He huffed indignantly.

"It wasn't so much Tsunade's body language as it was of these ANBU. Besides," she winked, "they gave themselves completely away with their reactions to my explanation and question."

That was when Team Gai realized that two of their members had agreed to spar with someone who was undoubtedly very, very dangerous. The analytical way that they had been observed themselves when Tsunade had ordered them to be the observers was very disconcerting. Taking this person lightly could get them killed. Easily.

"Also," Cean continued, well aware of the unease of the others, "this Sai person over here has definitely been ANBU at one point, if he isn't one right now." She smiled slightly at the increased tension. "Judging by his expression and demeanor, he was one of those special people I have encountered from time to time. Someone who was part of an organization called…ROOT…if I recall correctly."

She paused while that information sank in, thoroughly enjoying setting them all off balance. "In answer to your unspoken questions, I find it prudent to keep tabs on everything going on around me. That way, I can travel without the worry of being accosted."

Of course, this was truth. Just like everything else she had said. Just like everything she ever says. Keeping tabs allowed her to move freely and carry out her business in the Akatsuki. It also kept her from accidently getting involved in something…unwise.

In said organization, she and Zetsu were both utilized as garbage disposals, of a sort. They cleaned up the Akatsuki's unwanted messes. One way or another.

Just like what she was ordered to do with the council.

But these children didn't know that. Nor did they need to.

"So?" She tilted her head. "Are you going to answer my original question?"

However, despite her intimidation tactics, there remained Team Gai's typical determination and pride in their abilities. Cean couldn't but smile at their firm expressions.

"My reason still hasn't changed after that little speech," Tenten stated calmly. "I wish to see what kind of training you can give my friend that he can't get here, with us." Naruto blinked at this. He hadn't realized that the kunoichi thought so highly of him.

"Yosh!" Lee exclaimed. "I wanted to see if there is anything I can learn from the youthful Yamashi-san!"

Gai jumped up and down, tears in his eyes. "Yes, my youthful students! Show her the light of spring and youth!"

Neji rolled his eyes. "Despite your words," he explained to Cean, "whether you can use that information in combat remains to be seen. I look forward to watching the matches."

'_I definitely underestimated them,'_ Cean thought, observing the weird sunset-crashing waves thing going on with Gai and Lee. _'I wonder, are all of the young ones in Konoha this strong? If so, they may be able to end the existence of the Weaver and the Demon of Silence. This short stay just became very interesting indeed.'_

Silently, she sent a powerful wish winging their way. The second most powerful wish she knew of. But it wasn't only for them.

_May you find whatever it is you are looking for in this life. May you also find the truth and honor in a silent war that has neither._

--

Lilith and Tobi both paused in their movements, as did Sakura, Ino, and Hinata. Even Madara, inside of Tobi's mind, was frozen in place.

A reverberation of something strong passed through their bones and then moved on.

Lilith frowned heavily. _'What was that?'_ she asked Yin and Yang. The demons were quiet for a moment.

'_**A wish,'**_ Yang finally stated simply.

'_**A powerful one that requires no interference from a certain Demon,' **_Yin clarified.

'_Why not?'_

This time, the two replied at the same time.

'_**Because the Demon of Silence is wishing for the same thing.'**_

--

The rest of the Akatsuki in the base paused as well. After the strange feeling passed, however, they each returned to their rooms to go over what knowledge they each possessed. Even if they weren't sure what they were looking for.

--

Airhead stopped filling out her endless paperwork stack and instead looked out her window. Many citizens of Suna were strolling around in their daily business, unaware of the feeling that had caused the Akatsuki in disguise to stop working.

It wasn't in her nature, but she felt very ill at ease for some reason. Like a forbidding menace had to be faced sometime in the near future and she wasn't even close to being prepared for it. Biting her lip, she resolved to keep an even closer eye on Suna's newly appointed council of elders.

--

'Hn-chan' Kajiryuu stumbled, failing to block the strike that came her way. She twisted her body, so the katana only grazed her cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. Growling at her misstep, she swung her double-edged sword at the Kumo nin that had the misfortune to come too close to the Akatsuki base.

Blood sprayed backwards at her, drenching her in a liquid crimson cloak. Spitting at the messy corpse in front of her, she sheathed her weapon and turned away.

She narrowed her eyes, recalling what had caused her to stumble. As the sole caretaker of the base in Lightning, she had learned early to always be on guard. It was rare that something could throw her off like that.

That energy she felt was unfamiliar. Yet, there was an echo behind it, something that tickled the edge of her mind. The shadow of something that she _should_ remember, but couldn't. She didn't like it.

"Hn," she grunted, dismissing it from her mind for now. She had other important things to attend to. Such as disposing of this annoying body.

--

A slight earthquake rocked the foundations of the ruin the two Akatsuki were in. Grabbing on to pillars, the two weathered out the shaking, hoping that the old rock around them would hold firm.

Luckily, it did. Once the ground stopped moving beneath her feet, one of the women stretched and made her way across the room to her twin sister.

However, before she could reach her, she tripped over a small rock that had fallen from the ceiling.

"Waaah!" she yelled, her face introduced to the rock-covered floor.

The other sighed heavily. "Datenshi," she intoned, holding a hand out. "You should be more careful of where you step. One wrong move and you could set off some sort of booby trap."

Datenshi broke out in fits of laughter. "Sorry, Kasumi," she managed, holding her stomach. "You said 'booby!'"

Kasumi wondered why she even bothered.

Ignoring her sister (who was still indisposed), Kasumi glanced around the room. "There," she pointed at the west wall. "Found them. That energy we felt—it lit up the runes."

Datenshi stopped her laughter immediately. She knew when to be serious. Standing up, she peered at the inscriptions in the wall. "Lucky us. Saved us quite a bit of time trying to read them, lighting them up like that. Was that a wish that I felt?"

The corner of Kasumi's mouth twitched upwards. "Yeah, and the Demon of Silence throwing its power behind it. I think our timetable just got pushed up."

Her twin sighed. "I hate it when we have little time. It's annoying. I want to slack off once in awhile!" she griped, throwing a mini tantrum.

"Yeah yeah, just get on with the transcribing," Kasumi ordered.

"Fine!" Datenshi huffed. Then she paused. "Hey, look over here," she called, walking over the east wall. "There's something here under the dirt."

"I'll uncover it; you go finish the west wall."

"Ugh," Datenshi moped. "You're no fun."

"Of course not."

--

_A howl of frustration and anger filled the empty space. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, DEMON OF SILENCE?!" the Weaver raged. "WHY?! WHY DO YOU THROW IT AWAY?! DON'T YOU WANT TO LIVE, TOO?!"_

_The spirit's energy engulfed the space, the Demon still absent. "WHY DO YOU INVOLVE THOSE MORTALS?! THIS IS __**OUR **__WAR!! THEY DON'T NEED TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!"_

_Fiery emotions filled the being, as well as a dark, cold spark called fear. __**"ANSWER ME!!!"**_

--

**Was that scary at all? I hope so, it was meant to be, at least a little.**

**Giant cookie for reviewers!**


	25. Chapter 24

**Yes, I am back! Shocking, isn't it? The plot was undergoing a major overhaul, and many kinks were being worked out. You guys should say thanks to Suicidal-Despair for getting me to write (I know I said I would update quickly, but I got stuck), and Minty Goodness for alleviating my writer's block with our intense discussions of zombies. Don't know why that worked—it just did.**

**Disclaimer: …Somehow, I ended up with three cats, since my sister's two cats detest her very existence. I should've named one of them Naruto. But I didn't, so I still have to say that I don't own Naruto.**

**A.R.T.!!**

**Nico_Luver: Thank you! I'm glad that you think so!**

**Random Viewer of Naruto Stuff: Your reviews made me smile. I'm sorry that your vote didn't count towards the pairings, but I'm planning another Naruto fanfic so I'll make those the pairings for that one. Since I like those pairings, too. A LOT.**

_**--**_

_**The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me—Ayn Rand**_

_**--**_

Shaking off her premonition that something wrong was going to happen, the lavender-haired Akatsuki member decided to continue as if nothing had happened. Having put on a fake face that she despised, Lilith proceeded to dazzle the three Konoha kunoichi with a bright smile. "Alright! I have just the technique for you, Ino!" Still grinning, she drew out three kunai from a pouch and placed them in between her fingers on her right hand. The girls could clearly see the exploding tags dangling ominously from the hilts. This effectively erased all thoughts of that strange echo of…something that they felt earlier.

Ino nodded, stepping out of Tobi's barrier to take Sakura's place. Settling into a fighting stance, she kept her eyes on Lilith's kunai. Pulling a single kunai of her own out, she calculated her best move if Lilith threw the exploding kunai straight at her.

Suddenly, she felt a blow to her cheek and saw the ground rushing up at her. Hitting hard, she quickly rolled away from a punch that hit where she had been.

Using her left fist as a lever, Lilith flipped over back onto her feet and whirled around to face Ino once more. "Just because I have a projectile, does not mean that I'll use it," Lilith advised, waiting for Ino to stand. "Ready?" Without waiting for an answer, the Akatsuki member darted forward again, switching two kunai to her left hand and slashing with the remaining one.

Blocking with her kunai, Ino dug her heels into the rocky ground. Holding Lilith's kunai in place with her own, her feet skidded backwards until her efforts made them stop.

The two were at a temporary impasse while they tried to force the other into defending. Lilith broke the stalemate by thrusting her left fist forward, kunai included. Twisting, Ino dodged and Lilith stumbled when Ino's kunai moved.

Taking advantage of the situation, Ino used her momentum to try and drive her foot into Lilith's back. However, the other woman had anticipated this and dove forward and left, escaping. Rolling a few feet away, she rocked back onto her feet in a crouching position, only to topple backwards to dodge another kick aimed at her chin.

Hissing, Lilith flashed out of Ino's range and threw one of her exploding kunai.

Eyes widening, Ino quickly jumped away from the explosion.

Only to find that she had landed in another.

The explosion cleared. She stood still, huffing, the minor burns all over her body aching for coolness. Her legs shaking, she summoned forth her limited amount of healing abilities to soothe her burns. Counting herself lucky that her hair hadn't caught fire, she tried to calm down in order to assess the situation better.

She knew that this test had to do with either ninjutsu or taijutsu. Judging by how Lilith had fought thus far, she had to assume that it was taijutsu. Dodging a kick from Lilith, she continued to try to heal herself, think, and stay intact at the same time. She _knew_ that Lilith had only thrown one exploding kunai—she had seen it. So why were there two explosions, and, moreover, why did they occur at the same time?!

Her burns stopped hurting too much and started itching instead. Taking that as a sign that she could stop healing them, she did so. Now that her burns had stopped hurting, her mind cleared somewhat.

And then it clicked.

Operating on a hunch, and the knowledge of how Sakura was tricked earlier, Ino withdrew an exploding tag of her own. Attaching it to her kunai, which she had managed to keep a grip on the whole time, she eyed Lilith's movements and waited for the right time.

Spotting an opening, Ino dashed forward, underneath one of Lilith's swings. Throwing her kunai to a spot on the empty ground before her, Ino stayed out of range of the explosion. And, sure enough, it did what she expected it to.

It caused an explosion not only where the kunai hit, but also in the same spot in the other two quadrants of the room. Lilith was caught in one of those explosions, just as Ino had earlier. _This proves it_, Ino thought. _In reality, the fact that the walls expanded was a genjutsu as well. I don't know what actually happened, but anything that happens in one section is mirrored in the others. It isn't taijutsu, specifically, but rather it had something to do with physics._

Lilith crawled out of the settling dust, looking a little charred but uninjured. Ino couldn't understand how the woman had escaped being burned, but decided that the question could wait for later.

Coughing a little, and wiping some char off her cloak, Lilith gave the girls a thumbs-up. "Congratulations, Ino. Next time though, could we NOT imitate Deidara in all things? Thank you." Something hard hit her head. "Oi! Ino, not cool! I'm the only one allowed to throw shoes at people!" She paused for a second. "Okay, Kasumi's allowed to throw shoes as well—because I usually deserve it—but that's it!"

Ino laughed. "So, mind explaining why that was possible?"

"Sure thing," Lilith replied, standing up. "The tremors you all felt at the start were a part of the genjutsu falling apart, since I hurt myself. That's why I was able to retain my balance while hopping on one foot while the tremors were in effect. The walls did not actually expand, or else the hallways on the other side of the rock walls would have collapsed and probably brought the whole hideout down. In reality, that little machine there created a loop in space." She pointed towards Tobi. "That's why that section has to be protected, since it's the original." Pausing, she looked a little uneasy. "And if the machine broke the whole space would collapse on us and it. . . Well, let's just say that it wouldn't be pretty for the others to clean up."

Everyone shuddered a little at the thought.

"Why would…you even…use such a dangerous thing, then?" Hinata asked, hesitant as ever. "It might not be…wise to use such a method if…you could die from it."

Lilith gave the girl—no, young woman, she reminded herself—a small, slightly regretful smile. "Hinata-chan, if that was the case, being a shinobi—much less a kunoichi—wouldn't be possible. All ninja must take risks. The more you get used to, the clearer your decisions under nasty conditions will be."

Hinata nodded carefully. "Yes, they taught us that in the Academy. However…that can't be the only way to go about conquering the kinds of fears one encounters as a ninja. That's what you were referring to…right…?" The last part was said with a fearful look in her pale eyes. "At least…that's what I believe," she added a little more strongly, a small glimmer of strength materializing behind the fear as she realized she didn't need this criminal's approval at all.

She knew that she was a Konoha kunoichi, and the former heiress to a great clan. No matter how much she wanted approval from the lavender-haired Akatsuki, she didn't actually _need_ it.

Her smile falling, Lilith was hard put to answer the woman. "Is that…your dream?" It was her turn to be hesitant.

Not expecting this kind of answer, Hinata closed her eyes for a moment and thought hard. "Yes," she finally answered, opening her eyes again, determination having replaced all other emotions in them. "That is one of my dreams. Young children should not have to be put through too terrible things, just so that they can withstand more terrible things later!"

Sakura and Ino exchanged glances, both thinking the same thing: that they had missed something important when they were children. Hinata sounded as if she was talking from personal experience. They had known that the Hyuuga clan was harsh on its young ones, but neither had been able to comprehend the depth of it. They had simply been too young to pay it any mind.

And as they grew older…well, they were ashamed to admit to themselves that they had never truly tried to understand their friend. In fact, in a deep corner of their minds, they wondered if they had the right to call Hinata a friend when they knew so little of her circumstances.

Noticing all three's body language, Lilith debated the correct thing to say. This was something she had never been good at. She was much better at saying the wrong thing and getting predictable reactions from her extended family. She hadn't dealt with painful things, and had instead avoided them until they became huge five years ago. And even then, she was still on somewhat uneasy terms with Sasori and especially Itachi, which hurt her heart.

It sucked being able to read people's deepest, darkest secrets, and being unable to do anything about them. She thought she understood how Datenshi, Kasumi, and Cean felt, since they were able to draw out the dark in people in their own ways.

But there were three people waiting for an answer to Hinata's question, and she was fairly sure that Madara made a fourth (even if she couldn't tell whether it was him in control right now or Tobi). So, she said the only thing she could. "I hope your dream comes true, Hinata. I haven't thought about the issue before, so I don't know how that could happen. But I really want that wish to be realized." She paused for a second. "And, there are many people here you could talk to on the subject. After all, most of us here in Akatsuki had nasty childhoods and would be able to give thoughtful answers. I would suggest talking to Konan, for now, and maybe Kasumi and your partners later.

"But right now, I think we should finish what we came here to do. Hinata, you're next."

--

Tsunade was trembling like a leaf on a tall tree in a nasty storm. Funny, that analogy, she decided. Konoha=leaf, tall tree=Hokage Tower, and the nasty storm…

Well, she actually didn't want to think about that one too much. She felt that she would anger something else particularly nasty if she did. Obeying a gut instinct was usually the right thing to do in a situation where you were blind. It tended to keep one alive longer.

There was a knock on her door, and she called out a wavering, "Enter." Shizune strode in, with Shikamaru and Kakashi hot on her heels. Tonton trotted in as if he were an afterthought.

"You wanted to see us?" Kakashi asked, eye crinkling a little. He had to have been aware that the situation wasn't normal, because there was also a small hint of worry in his masked features.

"Yes. Please, close the door." Shizune did so and then went to her teacher's side—scooping Tonton into her arms as well. "Thank you. I'm going to get straight to the point. How many demons do you think exist?"

Shikamaru frowned. "So troublesome…there are only nine tailed demons, right?"

As Tsunade was about to correct Shikamaru on his mistake, she realized that Kakashi had stiffened considerably. "Kakashi?" she asked, feeling the colour drain from her face, "You know, don't you? About that…_thing._ That creature."

He nodded. "My old teammate and I…we did something very, very foolish." Shikamaru and Shizune merely looked confused since they weren't able to follow along at all, but Tsunade…she understood exactly what the man meant.

She turned to her tactical advisor and her assistant. "Unfortunately, Kakashi's words have just made our situation much worse. Yes, Shikamaru, to the extent of our knowledge there are only nine Bijuu. However, they are not the only demons. To be specific, I have met another demon before—long ago. Twenty-one years, to be exact. But I would recognize that monster's energy anywhere."

"I too, have met this demon," Kakashi continued.

Shikamaru suddenly looked alert. "You two…something bad happened...didn't it?"

Tsunade nodded gravely. "I made a deal with that monster. Or, rather, I had a wish granted by it." She held up a hand to keep the others from asking any questions. "I don't regret it. Not for a second. However, I now owe that demon something."

"What is it?" Shizune whispered, unable to quite believe what she was hearing. Tsunade? Making a deal with a monster? It just didn't seem like anything she would do. She was too…too strong to fall that far.

"I believe that my exact words were—" And here the Hokage paused for a couple of moments. "Perhaps," she continued, "I should just tell you everything from the beginning. If you are going to be able to accomplish your task, you will need to know everything that I do."

Kakashi and Shikamaru exchanged a look. They still weren't too quite sure what to make of the situation. "Just what is it you want us to do?" Kakashi asked.

"Shizune and I felt that monster's presence in Konoha not once, but _twice_ today. Did you feel something…strange a little while ago?" The others nodded. "Then that…might be…very, very bad…" she trailed off, thinking hard. "That demon is plotting something, and is probably coming to collect what it is owed. I thought it would just be from me, but…what exactly did you and your teammate promise the demon, Kakashi?"

The man closed his visible eye in weariness. "…Anything it felt was fair and equal. We couldn't think of anything worth…" Even though his eye was still closed, he turned his head away, seemingly unwilling to speak more about the subject.

But Tsunade pressed anyway. "Did it tell you its price?"

"Yeah." Kakashi's hands curled into fists. "We were to never see the person we saved, ever again." He turned to face his Hokage once more, and opened his eye. "We thought that was alright, as long as he was alive."

Tsunade had to think for a moment as to whom Kakashi was referring. It had to be his former teammate, the Uchiha-Who-Was-Much-Too-Hyper, Obito. After all, it couldn't have been his teacher since Rin was already dead by the time the Fourth Hokage died as well.

She was certain that Shizune and Shikamaru didn't know who the gray-haired man was talking about. Which was probably for the better. "Then it can't collect on you. It already has. Now, here is what I want everyone to do."

The Hokage looked at the son of the White Fang. "Kakashi, you know the bingo book like the back of your hand. Make me a list of those who you think left their villages under strange circumstances. Pay special attention to those who appeared to have no real reason to leave beforehand, those for whom their crimes would have been the _last_ things they would ever have thought about doing before, and people who went missing under strange circumstances."

She then turned to Shikamaru. "You know the people here in Konoha very well. Try to think of anyone with a desire powerful enough to interest a demon. Also try to think of those who have suddenly _stopped_ desiring whatever it was with no good reason."

Last of all, she looked at Shizune. "I need hospital records of people who escaped unscathed while the rest of their team perished. If they didn't have a satisfactory answer for why that happened, mark their names in red. Also, look for people besides Naruto who had amazing self-healing gifts, or strange attributes not attributed to a bloodline trait."

Facing everyone, she cleared her throat. "I will work on whatever Shizune brings me. This demon, for some reason, doesn't make many movements during the daylight hours. Come back here just before sunset, and I will tell you everything I have discovered from your findings as well as what happened when I met the demon. Go now."

She smiled broadly at them. "We're going to find a pattern. And we'll be able to use it to outwit the creature at its own game!"

--

Cean dodged yet another devastating kick from Lee, not able to do much against his lightning-quick attacks. She disliked moving around much—even though her speed was spectacular—and as such disliked fighting hand-to-hand.

However, she still wanted to win, so she was going to have to do more than dodge endlessly.

The next kick aimed at her head was her perfect opportunity, and she snatched it. Ducking below, she punched upward, connecting her fist with the back of Lee's calf on the leg doing the kicking. Putting a great amount of force into the blow, she was able to lift Lee's leg even higher, causing the young man to lose his balance and fall on his back.

Apparently, it had knocked the wind out of him because it took a moment for him to get back up. Cean, on the other hand, wasn't paying any attention to this fact. She was flexing her fingers quite a bit and rotating her wrist.

She stared at Lee. "You're wearing weights?" she asked incredulously. The Akatsuki member felt extremely embarrassed that she hadn't noticed earlier. This kid was…unbelievable. He could still move that fast?

Lee nodded, peering at her in confusion. "How could you tell?"

"I hit metal with my fist. You broke my hand," she remarked, staring at him. "Specifically, you broke three of my fingers, four of my metacarpals, and sprained my wrist." Now Cean looked a little irritated, wiping her bleeding knuckles on her trench coat.

The others stared at her in return, all thinking, '_Why the hell were you flexing your fingers and wrist like that then?! Shouldn't that have hurt like hell?!'_

"Take off your weights," Cean demanded, pulling out a bandage from a pocket and sloppily wrapping her hand. "I _despise_ handicaps."

"Even though the youthful Yamashi-san has one of her own?"

"I don't care. Take them off so I don't break my other hand." She glowered.

"Yes, ma'am," Lee squeaked, hurrying to do as the scary (but still youthful) lady told him.

* * *

**(Staring) OH MY GOD IT'S A GODDAMN LINE!!**

**My friend Airheaded Kitty Luver…has just now shown me how to make a line. Which she herself found out on accident. NOT FAIR. I threw a temper tantrum with much swearing once I was able to make this line. Not fair at all…**

**Regardless, I made an extra long chapter for you guys! More than 3,000 words, it's the longest one so far! So please review for it! Your other choice would be to become Deidara's newest piece of art. Or, Sasori's, if you would prefer that.**


	26. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I own… (Tackled by rabid lawyers) GAHH!! I NO OWN I NO OWN I NO OWN!! STOP PULLING MY HAIR!!**

**And…uh…Cean's sanity…really is very fragile…**

**A.R.T!!**

**naruto geek: Yay! Thanks! Yes, I'm back, after going on a long journey… Was this update quick enough for you?**

**AirheadedKittyLuver: Ha ha. Yeah, the fight scenes always take me forever to write. But it wouldn't truly be a Naruto fanfic without them, right? But I'm glad you like them. When Lee said Cean had a handicap, he meant her now broken hand.**

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* * *

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**_Dreams that do come true can be as unsettling as those that don't—Brett Butler_**

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* * *

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As the others filed out of Tsunade's office, the woman surreptitiously reached into a drawer in her desk for a sake bottle. Shizune never actually thought to look inside the desk for the sake stash, since Tsunade had a tendency to throw her desks out the window. Not to mention it was a rather obvious hiding place.

Looking up again, she realized that one person hadn't left with the others. "Shikamaru?" she asked, blinking. "What are you still doing here?"

The Nara man fidgeted a little where he was standing. "I think I already know of a couple of wishes the demon might be interested in granting."

Tsunade's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. Setting her sake bottle down, she gestured for her strategist to continue.

He fidgeted some more, obviously unhappy with what he was about to say. Finally, he cleared his throat. "I know of four possible people." He stopped, hesitating. "Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and…" he flinched before saying the last, "…Takako."

The Hokage's heart plummeted into her stomach. "Please give your reasoning," she told him, trying very hard to remain aloof. It was difficult.

"Sakura has recently stopped expressing her desire to have her old teammate return to Konoha. Hinata has always felt inferior to the other members of her clan," Shikamaru was able to grit out as unfeelingly as he could. "And Ino has…well…ever since _those_ events five years ago, Ino has felt as if she were in the shadows of her friends. She felt she wasn't as strong as Sakura, and that she wasn't as kind as Hinata, among other things."

"And they all left the village," Tsunade whispered, feeling guilty for not being able to tell the young man that the three women were actually on a mission. However, in a dark corner of her mind, she knew that what Shikamaru had said made sense. Did she give them merely an excuse? Were they under the grip of a demon? It was something that was easy to hide from others, as she knew very well herself.

Returning her attention to Shikamaru, she asked, "And the last person. Who was it, again?"

"Takako."

This wasn't any better than the earlier three. "The daughter of Asuma and Kurenai." She closed her eyes. "Why?"

"Her mother and I have heard many, many times her cries of, 'I want to live with Mommy and Daddy together!' It's…actually rather…heart wrenching to hear." A pained expression filled Shikamaru's face while he talked.

Tsunade thought she understood. Asuma's death still affected the lives of his former team greatly. Not to mention Kurenai's life as well. Her daughter was almost five years old, and had never gotten a chance to meet her father. The child must be lonely, even though the former Team 10 had done their best to be as involved in the little girl's life as possible. They never even talked about Asuma. Pretended that he never existed in the first place. Takako even had her mother's surname.

But children weren't as easy to fool as yourself. Especially not this one—she had two remarkable parents, after all. She was sharp. She knew that other children had something she didn't. She wanted what was missing, and wanted it bad enough for Shikamaru to think that a demon would be interested.

"Why would the demon be interested in any of these four?" Tsunade had to ask coldly, in order to get her strategist to pay attention and not return to a depressed state. The fact that he hadn't said his trademark, 'How troublesome,' or, 'What a drag,' was proof that the man was deeply affected by the topic.

Replying in the same manner as Tsunade, he forced himself to be professional, for the sake of—well, he wasn't sure if it was for himself or for someone else. "Sakura was your apprentice and knows many of your secrets. Any favor gleaned from her would be very useful for anything that demon of yours is planning. Hinata knows intimate details of the Hyuuga clan, and has the Byakugan. She would be useful in all sorts of ways, as well."

Tsunade calmly noted that he saved the two people most dear to his heart for last. She'd noticed him visibly steeling himself.

Shikamaru gulped before continuing, "The Yamanaka family knows many things about plants, especially the less than savory uses for them. Ino's Mind Transfer jutsu would be integral to discovering the weakness of an enemy in order to blackmail them later.

"Last, but not least, Takako may be young, but she holds incredible potential. She could be one of the greatest kunoichi of her generation. In addition, her age also makes her an easy subject to manipulate."

The blonde woman looked out her window for a moment, thinking hard. "Is there anything further you wish to add?"

"No, ma'am."

"Very well. I will think over what you have said. You may now return to the rest of your assignment."

Even though she wasn't looking at him, she knew that Shikamaru had bowed. "Yes, Tsunade-sama."

"Wait," she called, just as he was about to walk out the door. She heard his footsteps stop. Carefully phrasing her next words, she still didn't look at him. "Keep in mind that while this assignment is of the utmost importance, I do not actually care where you perform your brainstorming." Knowing that he would understand, she merely waited until she heard the door click shut, and then returned to nursing her new sake bottle.

Only this time, she had even more nasty things to think about.

* * *

As it turned out, Tsunade wasn't the only one having dark thoughts. Cean was in the grip of quite a few, herself. They were entirely different from the Hokage's, but they were no less nasty.

Cean's assigned duties with Akatsuki were vague at best. Clean up the messes. Perform any duty that another member was unable (or unwilling) to do.

Thus, she was called in to help with one of Zetsu's interrogations once. Normally it was Itachi and Zetsu working together—Zetsu to physically break down a person's body and Itachi to break their mind. However, Itachi had gotten so ill he couldn't move from his room that one day. So, the job fell to Cean to break the current prisoner's mind. As a high-ranking official from Iwagakure, he knew some rather important scroll locations.

Everyone, including Cean, had expected the interrogation to go south. Even if the man's body was broken, he probably wouldn't give out reliable information. If his mind was broken too thoroughly, he wouldn't make any sense.

He broke after just a few whispered words in his ears. That was all it took to make him spill his every secret.

That was when Cean started being brought in for more interrogations. She had a talent for saying the exact thing to make a person's mind and willpower crumble. Further experimentation afterward revealed the ability to 'rebuild' the person, to 'fix' what was broken and make it stronger than before. Turn the person into an ally.

Anything in excess will kill a human. Including—no, _especially_—the truth.

And this particular Konoha ninja she was sparring with was not skilled enough at controlling his emotions to fool Cean's eyes. The fake smile was good, but Cean had helped to raise Datenshi, the master at hiding behind smiles. She could see beyond it easily.

The weather was beginning to take a turn for the worse, as was Cean's mood and the dark things buried deep down were rising to the surface like worms during a rainstorm. They whispered wonderful, intoxicating words that were hard to ignore.

**Break the child.**

So tempting.

**Break them all.**

Oh so tempting.

**The smiles…they taunt us…destroy them. No, ERASE THEM.**

It wouldn't take much.

**Just a little…push.**

Just a little push.

* * *

Cean quickly realized that she was about to snap. In order to stop it, she had to end this quickly. Suddenly twisting, she fell onto her left, unbroken hand. Lifting the rest of her body up, she used the momentum to swing her leg in an arc, catching Lee's abdomen while he was off the ground and unable to dodge effectively. She moved so fast that no one saw her leg until after Lee was lying on his back.

Now that she was calming down, she was free to think about what had triggered this episode of insanity. The weather definitely had something to do with it, as storms made her mood just as thundery. She didn't hate storms, but she didn't like them either.

That couldn't have been the only thing, she reasoned. She had better control over herself than that. She found her answer in what the darkness had told her. Smiles. Lee's fake one, and the ones the spectators wore.

Rationally, it didn't make sense, but sometimes people react to things before they know what their thoughts truly are. You can't analyze instincts or whims very well when they're your own.

She carefully righted herself again. Cean knew that in order to maintain order she was going to have to put a stopper on any thoughts that could get her thrown into an interrogation cell. No breaking people allowed.

Well, she might have broken a couple of Lee's lower ribs. There had been pressure against her foot, but it had given way just like the breaking of a twig might. Funny…she hadn't planned to kick that high…

The young man stared up at Cean with a strange look on his face. When she offered her hand to him, he hesitated a moment before he grasped it. Pulling himself up, he continued to give her an odd look.

Finally, she asked, "Is something the matter?"

"You…" here he seemed to struggle a bit.

Had he seen her change? Could he have seen how the dark things affected her? Cean usually didn't worry, but this made her a tad bit uneasy. She didn't like people trying to figure her out.

"You didn't move that fast earlier, Yamashi-san," Lee remarked. "How were you able to do that?"

_'Nice try,'_ she thought. _'You're feigning disinterest in my mood swing. You can't sidetrack me so easily. And I was able to move faster because I released more coldness from my body, relieving the pressure on it which enabled me to move faster.'_

She blinked as her thoughts wandered. "It's a trick I've learned over the years, and it's due to a certain condition I have." She gave him a smirk, and crinkled her eyes in slight mirth. "And it isn't something you can copy," she chuckled.

Lee looked crestfallen. He really had wanted to learn how to speed up like that. Then his look turned to one of pain as his ribs reminded him that they needed medical attention. Which reminded him of something else. "Doesn't your hand hurt?"

Cean gave him a blank stare for a moment. Her eyes lit up as soon as she realized what he was talking about. "Yeah, it's broken, remember? Of course it hurts." It did hurt—she just didn't really care. A benefit of living for so long was that you understood that pain was usually fleeting, so she never saw any point in worrying over a little hurt.

Besides, far worse had been done to her before. A broken hand was nothing compared to a fractured skull. Now _those_ were unpleasant. Especially if it happened to be your own fault. (She still blamed the shelf. It was the stupid thing's fault for being in the way of her head.)

* * *

"Uh…Kasumi?" There was no answer. "Kasumi?" Still no answer. "KASUMI!"

"What do you want?!"

Datenshi backed away from her sister's baneful glare, smiling nervously. "We might want to finish up soon as there seems to be a sandstorm on the way. I, personally, do not want to be stuck down here if it covers up the entrance like the last one did."

Kasumi moved her gaze back to the thing Datenshi had found earlier.

Peering at it as well, Datenshi's smile never slipped from its permanent place. "What is it, exactly?"

"A door."

They both stared in silence for a little while.

"I don't like it, Kasumi."

"Yeah. I'm getting a bad feeling about it as well."

There was another pause. "We're going to have to open it, huh?"

"No, you're going to open it. You found it, so take responsibility." Kasumi glanced at her twin. "Besides, the fragment we're looking for isn't anywhere else in here." She returned her gaze to the door. "I wonder why this is the only place that's different…"

"Maybe because this was dedicated to the Demon of Silence?"

"Maybe."

"Well, I'm going in…" With that, Datenshi reached carefully into the indentation in the door, and curled her fingers around the lip. She paused, and turned towards Kasumi. "On three?"

"Sure. One…"

"Two…"

"Three!" they shouted together, and Datenshi yanked as hard as she could.

They squeezed their eyes shut instinctively, and waited.

Nothing happened.

Opening their eyes, they sighed heavily at what they saw.

It had only moved a little. But, listening closely, they could hear something beyond the door. It was like a…scratching noise, but it was very faint.

Kasumi and Datenshi realized that they were definitely not alone in the old ruins.

The scratching sound came again.

Looking at each other with identical expressions of misgiving, they both remarked at the same time, "That can't be good."

And a premature twilight was fast approaching with the storm.

* * *

**And here I leave you till next time. 2,000 words! Be happy!**

**The more reviews I get, the more motivated I'll be to write up the next chapter! Bye!**


	27. Chapter 26

**Sorry, everyone. I didn't proofread the earlier version of this chapter before I posted it, and thus there were some embarrassing errors. This is the revised version.**

**Disclaimer: I'm too busy plotting to take over the world to own Naruto.**

**A.R.T.**

**Kristen: Thanks! Glad to hear it!**

**Rose: Yay, I don't normally get called that! THANK YOU!**

**Akitora: …As soon as you wrote your review, I realized just how long it had been since I last updated, and I got immediately to work. Don't sic Jashin on me!**

**I find this poem very, very creepy for some reason…even though I'm pretty sure it's a love poem…it still gives me the heebie-jeebies…**

* * *

_**O, my love is like a red, red rose, **_

_**That's newly sprung in June. **_

_**O, my Love is like the melody, **_

_**That's sweetly played in tune.  
**_

_**As fair thou art, my bonnie lass, **_

_**So deep in love am I: **_

_**And I will love thee still, my dear, **_

_**Till all the **__**seas**__** go dry:  
**_

_**Till all the **__**seas**__** go dry, my dear,**_

_**And the rocks melt with the sun; **_

_**I will love thee still my dear, **_

_**While the sands of life shall run.  
**_

_**And fare thee well, my only Love,**_

_**And fare thee well a while!**_

_**And I will come again, my Love, **_

_**Though it were ten thousand mile.**_

—**Robert Burns**

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Hinata gathered her courage much more readily than normal, empowered some by her speech to Lilith. Calmly striding over to where Lilith stood among the char marks, she began to feel something warm well up inside her chest and spread to each part of her body. She only vaguely registered the feeling as determination, while settling into the typical stance for her clan's techniques.

"You ready?" Lilith asked, one hand on her waist and the other outstretched palm side up to her opponent. "Since you know which discipline I'm going to be applying this time, I'm going to work you even harder than the others!"

Hinata's only answer was, "Byakugan!"

Smirking, Lilith promptly attacked with a Doton that crumbled the earth beneath Hinata's feet, causing the young woman to lose her balance. Following it up with a Katon fireball, she abandoned any mercy she might have had for the quiet heiress.

The pale-eyed woman regained her footing quickly, but too far away to use most of her techniques effectively. Having learned from Ino's battle, she threw four exploding kunai—one in front of Lilith, two in another quadrant, and one more in the other quadrant.

The paralleled explosions surrounded Lilith, blocking escape for the Akatsuki member. Dirt and flames rained down on her, forcing her attention away from Hinata. Protecting her face from the debris but keeping her hands loosely clenched, Lilith waited out the destruction. Sensing an attack, she barely dodged Hinata's _Juuho Soushikan_, the lions' heads ripping a piece of her cloak off.

While Lilith stumbled, Hinata attempted another _Juuho Soushikan _to exploit the temporary gap in the older woman's defenses. A foot collided with her side, knocking her off balance instead. _How did she recover and get around me so fast?_ Hinata ducked, wind rushing over her head from another kick. Lashing out with a hand, Hinata tried to grab Lilith and force her into the close combat that was her specialty, but Lilith leaped to another quadrant and far from the Hyuuga's range.

"Did you seriously think you could lull me into close quarter combat with you?" Lilith scoffed. "Keep dreaming; I know that most of your abilities are useless more than five meters away."

Not responding to the gibe, Hinata threw several shuriken at the Akatsuki woman. She watched in amazement as Lilith didn't move out of the way, and instead held up the back of her hand to ward off the projectiles. They stuck to the hand, and Hinata winced in sympathy.

Lilith flicked her wrist, and the shuriken came whirling at the former heiress at great speed. Rolling away, Hinata heard the weapons plant themselves in the ground right where she had stood. Peering at them, she realized that there was no blood on them.

All of a sudden, Lilith right beside Hinata, bearing down on her with a new jutsu forming. Hinata lashed out Lilith's legs with a kunai, hoping to rip a tendon or ligament to slow her down. Lilith disappeared again, Hinata's kunai missing completely.

_How? _Hinata wondered. _How is she doing this? She's acting like the ground isn't rough and rocky! She makes the ground seem like smooth ice to her!_ Then it clicked in Hinata's mind. Paying careful attention to Lilith's feet, she closed the distance between them again. Sure enough, when Lilith dodged, Hinata's Byakugan picked up on the light traces of chakra coating her legs and feet.

Lilith was using a variant of the walking-on-water technique the girls had learned as genin. That's why the shuriken never pierced her skin—she had used her chakra like fly paper and stopped the points before they actually touched her! It was also how she was moving around so fast. The same running technique of pushing chakra into the soles of the feet was being manipulated as well in order to recover quickly and to leap out of the way!

Far away again from her opponent, Hinata decided to try the same technique in order to gain the upper hand. Pushing a lot of chakra into her feet, she leapt towards Lilith, closing the large distance in the blink of an eye.

However, she miscalculated just how much chakra she needed and sent herself flying into the wall instead.

"Ah!" Lilith cried, running over to help the swirly-eyed girl. "Are you okay?"

* * *

In Akatsuki, it was common knowledge that the twins had the most luck out of everyone else. It wasn't always good luck, and it wasn't always bad luck. It was just a lot of luck. One or the other, by themselves, would be considered slightly luckier (good or bad) than normal people. However, when they were together, they were almost an unstoppable luck machine. When things went well for them, they went WELL. When things went wrong—they went horribly_, horribly_ wrong.

"Kasumi, before we open this, shouldn't we do a luck forecast?" Datenshi asked, knowing what the result was going to be anyway.

Her sister nodded and turned away to dig through her discarded cloak. She pulled out a rolled up piece of tough parchment and laid it out flat against the sand strewn, stone floor. A complicated symbol was sewn into the hide. It was that of a square inside of another square turned 90 degrees, inside of a circle. It was the most basic version of the Weaver's Mark.

Kasumi placed a small rock on each corner of the parchment, and picked up some of the sand and bits of rock strewn around. Slowly, she made each of the thirteen hand signs necessary to complete the intended jutsu. _Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Serpent, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Bird, Dog, Boar, _and finally placed her hands together as if she were clapping for the final seal. The slow making of the signs was the most crucial part, though. It wouldn't work otherwise.

The symbol glowed on the paper with an eerily in a colour somewhere between gold and silver.

"Twinkly," Datenshi observed. Indeed, the light seemed to wink back at the two.

Kasumi did not share her sister's amazement. "You've seen this several times already. What about this enthralls you so?" Datenshi shrugged. Without further ado, Kasumi threw the sand and pebbles in her hands onto the Mark. Some of it had fallen out of her grasp while she was making the signs, but there was still enough for this to work.

Patiently, the twins waited for the sand to coalesce and form something. This was their standard ritual, which Datenshi had dubbed, 'luck forecast.' They would perform this jutsu, and interpret what luck had made the sand do as the prediction for the way their luck was going.

Datenshi shifted, annoyed but hiding it well with a small smile. "So how's our luck, today?"

"Stormy," Kasumi frowned.

Lifting an eyebrow, Datenshi snorted. "I could have told you that. Sandstorm headed this way, remember?"

Kasumi shook her head. "No, literally. This is the kanji _arashi_. It's really complicated. This is the first time a kanji had actually shown up in one of these readings."

Her sister looked at it as well. "Storm? What does that mean?" Datenshi felt her blood turn slowly to ice. She had a really, really bad feeling…

"Storm, storm, storm," Kasumi muttered to herself, trying to think of something. It didn't help that the scratching noise was still coming from the other side of the door Datenshi had discovered. Logically, Kasumi knew it was probably a machine; after all nothing could live for more than a thousand years down in the ruins…

She paused.

"Storm," she whispered, finally understanding. "Storm, Datenshi, Storm."

Datenshi gave her a confused look. "Yeah, I thought we covered that."

"No, _Storm,_" she emphasized once more, jerking her head in the direction of the door. "_STORM."_

Then it clicked for Datenshi as well. She threw a terrified look at the door. "You have got to be kidding me." The scratching sounds intensified, as if whatever was making them knew that freedom was close at hand. "There is no way I'm opening that door now." Glancing at her sister again she quickly suggested, "I think we should go home. Like, right now."

Kasumi glared at her twin. "No. Besides, what would we say to the others? 'Sorry, but there was a big, scary door with something weird behind it and we were too chicken to check it out'? Come on! They'll fillet us if we say that!"

Datenshi hung her head. "I know, I know…but I still don't want to be responsible for what happens next…"

"Too bad. At least you'll have me to share the blame with."

* * *

**WOW! That was fun and hard at the same time!**

**Gotta run to class now! Bye!**

**Review in order to keep me interested in writing more of this story! And to keep me from procrastinating for as long for the next chapter!**


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